


Mirror, Mirror

by Queen_BeeChloe



Series: The Queen and Her Mirror [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, I'l always warn you before anything graphic happens, Some Fluff, Temporary Character Death, Vampire AU, Were-Creatures Au, little angst, little violence, lot of humor, most of it isn't graphic though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2018-12-26 09:51:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 118,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12056466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_BeeChloe/pseuds/Queen_BeeChloe
Summary: "I want you to draw me."Nathanael blinked in surprise. "What?""I said I want you to draw me. Or else I'll, I don't know, kill you. Or something. Whatever it is vampires are supposed to do to people who don't give them what they want."He stared at her in shock. "What?"Chloe sighed. "Are you deaf? Draw. Me."





	1. Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there isn't a ton of violence in this story, but some of the violence does get a little graphic. And the violence in the first chapter is probably the worst, even though it's pretty short.  
> If you want to read this story but you don't want to read graphic violence, skip to the notes at the end of this chapter and just read those. I will have a summary of what happened in the chapter so that you can skip to the next chapter and still know what's happening in this story. I didn't put it in the chapter summary because that's at the top and I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who does want to read the chapter, but there is still a chapter summary.  
> Anyway, hope you guys like it!

Chloe's bare feet pounded on the pavement, just a little louder than the rain.

And just a little louder than her footsteps were the footsteps of the creature chasing her. 

It just wasn't fair, Chloe couldn't help thinking to herself as she ran. Why did her stupid car have to break down? Why did one of the monsters plaguing Paris have to pick then to come down the street? Why did her stupid driver have to sprint off without her? Why did the stupid monster have to decide her to chase her instead of him? Was it because she was wearing heels? Was the creature chasing her making all of its decisions based on shoes?

Because while Chloe would normally commend that decision, she could not approve of the fact that it had decided to kill her, or whatever it was exactly these creepy things did to their victims.

She'd ditched the shoes pretty fast. Which sucked, because they were designer shoes, and they were adorable, and Chloe didn't like losing adorable things, but she figured surviving was probably more important. She'd revisit that decision after she lived through this. If she lived through this.

But losing her completely fabulous shoes had not made the creature stop chasing her, though it had helped her run a little faster. Which meant that Chloe was probably still gonna die, and now she would die barefoot, which just made the whole dying thing worse.

The thing was getting closer to her. She could hear it. Where was Ladybug? Wasn't it her sworn duty to protect Paris? Didn't she know Chloe needed her? Heck, at this point, Chloe would even take Chat Noir. Sure, he was the lame and mostly useless one of the two, but she'd probably cry in relief to see him right now.

Then the creature slammed into her, and Chloe screamed, a good, loud, blood curdling scream, because if she was going to die someone was going to hear her. The whole blasted city of Paris was going to hear her. She was going to die the most dramatic death this stupid creature had ever seen.

The creature pinned her to the ground and Chloe got her first close look at one of the monsters plaguing her city.

It looked almost human, almost like a man. But its form was too insubstantial and dark, like it was made of shadows, and its face was twisted into a shape that looked decidedly less than human. It also smelled like rotting meat.

But Chloe barely noticed any of those things. Her attention was very much focused on the claws digging into her arms, mixing her blood with the rainwater, and on the teeth that the creature was about to sink into her neck.

Chloe screamed again as she fought back with everything she had, kicking hard against the creature's stomach in an attempt to keep its mouth away from her throat.

It didn't work. The creature’s fangs ripped into her and Chloe couldn't scream again. She couldn't even breathe. All she could do was choke.

For a long moment, Chloe was aware of nothing but pain, of the horrifying mix of crushing and sucking she felt as the creature fed off her.

Then the creature got off of her, walking away with heavy footsteps, leaving her on the street to die.

She couldn't see it walking away. She couldn't see anything. But she could feel things, so much more than she wanted to. She could feel the rain and blood pouring off her, feel the pain in her throat. She couldn't help but think she should already be dead, but her consciousness wasn't fading. There was no escape from the pain, or from her own thoughts. From the knowledge that she was going to die on the street, in a pool of her own blood, a horrible and violent death. Her father would see her like this, and he'd have to bury her, his only child, in a coffin with a nailed down lid to try and stop her from rising again.

Maybe it would work. Maybe she really would die here, a meaningless end to a life that hadn’t mattered much anyway.

But maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe she had been infected. Maybe she would still rise as a monster as hideous as the one who had killed her, no trace of her own personality left. She would serve the villain that had attacked her city. She would help the creature who had murdered her. Maybe even to attack her own friends, or her father.

Chloe heard footsteps on the pavement again, and for a terrifying moment, she thought it was the creature coming back for her, coming to take something else from her, though she had no idea what that would even be.

Then she realized the footsteps were too light to be the monster, and there were clearly more than one person running towards her.

Then she heard them yelling, and her heart lifted when she recognized the voices, only to plummet when she heard what they were saying.

"Chat! Look at that girl!" Ladybug's voice, terrified in a way Chloe didn't think she'd ever heard before. It came from far away, but got closer by the second. "Oh, no. The blood. There's so much. The cure won't fix that. Maybe if we get her to a hospital...." She fell silent for a second. "Wait. Is that... Is that Chloe?"

Chat sounded sick when he answered her. "That… that smell…"

Ladybug’s voice was very close when she spoke again. “Oh, not. Chat, I… I think she might already be dead.”

Chloe's soul shattered. She was right. Her heart had already stopped beating. She could feel it, in the awful aching emptiness of her chest.

But then why was she still here? Why could she still hear them talking? If this was the only kind of an afterlife there was, it sucked. Being stuck in a dead body, hearing people mourn- or worse, not mourn- you? What kind of life after death was this?

Unless it was hell. Chloe had always imagined hell with more fire and less rain, and she'd never thought of herself as hell-worthy, but there was no way this was heaven or a nightmare, so maybe that was the only possibility.

Then Chat Noir spoke again. “She’s not.” He paused for a second. “At least not for long. That smell… They infected her. She’s going to turn.”

“You’re sure?” Ladybug asked. “But then why’d they rip out her throat, if they were going to turn her?”

“I don’t know,” he started to say. He cut himself off suddenly. “Whoa! Look at her. She’s turning purple.”

“She’s changing.” Ladybug sounded stunned. “Already? But that’s way too fast. She can’t be turning already.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t just let her turn into one of Papillion’s monsters! We have to save her! We have to… bite her.” Chat’s voice took on an odd quality as he finished the sentence.”

"What?" Ladybug sounded shocked. "No way. You're not thinking..."

"We’ve never tried it on someone who’s already started turning. We know it doesn’t work once they’re turned, but while she’s still changing, maybe we can save her. We won’t know until we try.”

He sounded desperate. Chloe wondered why he cared so much. Did he feel this protective of everyone in Paris? That seemed like it would be exhausting. 

"Well, yeah, but can’t we figure something else out? Make her one of us? This is Chloe. She's a bully, and a brat. She doesn’t deserve this kind of power." Ladybug’s voice lowered to a mutter. “And I don’t want to have to put up with her forever.”

"Ladybug!" Chat was angry now. Chloe was startled by the ferocity in his voice. "We have time for that. We can't just let her die! We have to do something now."

Ladybug's voice was startlingly calm. "We don’t even know what’s going to happen. Doing this to someone who is already turning…"

“That doesn’t matter,” Chat repeated. His voice was suddenly quiet, and deathly serious. “We have to save her. I’ll do it myself if you won’t.”

"No, I’ll do it," Ladybug said, her voice softer now. “My bite’s better at healing, and she’s in really bad shape."

The next thing Chloe knew, a hand grabbed hers and raised it, teeth sank into her wrist, and her world exploded with light.

Warmth spread over her body, slow and thick and sort of oozing. She felt drowning in something thicker than water, something that left a sweet taste on her tongue, maybe too sweet, but it eased the pain. She felt her consciousness slipping away, into the light. Maybe she was dying for real now. That would honestly be a relief, if she didn’t have to be in this hell anymore.

Then something, from somewhere deep inside Chloe, screamed at her to fight. To make her life, her existence, mean something. Something more than this death in the rain.

Her body flew up without her permission. She gasped desperately, surprised to find that she could breathe.

Her hand flew to her throat. It felt normal. The rest of her did not.

It wasn’t a bad feeling. She felt strong. Powerful. Nothing like the scared little girl whose struggles had been meaningless against the monster who wanted her blood.

But it was definitely a weird feeling. Like the blood in her veins had been replaced with something else, something thicker. And it felt like her bones were vibrating, like something deep inside her was almost… buzzing.

She held out her hands, staring at them to see if they looked different. They didn’t.

“It worked.” Chat sounded like he was going to cry from relief.

Chloe looked sideways at the two heroes. Ladybug was still kneeling beside her. She looked the same as always. There were jagged stripes that wound round her arm and obscured most of her face, wrapping around her eyes almost like a mask, places were her skin was hard like a shell, red with black spots. Her ladybug wings were closed behind her, but still clearly visible. Her hair and the irises of her eyes were both the same red as her skin.

She was more human looking than the monster that had tried to kill- or succeeded in killing, really- Chloe, but still not someone who would blend in a crowd.

Ladybug didn’t seem to notice Chloe staring at her. She turned to look at Chat, her expression tender but her voice teasing. “Are you really surprised? I’m disappointed in you. Of course, my bite worked.”

Chat looked at Ladybug and smiled softly. He looked just as lame as Chloe remembered. He had jagged stripes of his own shell in the exact same pattern as hers, pure black like his hair and not at all shiny the way hers was, but the whites of his eyes were green where Ladybug’s were still white, and he had a tail and claws instead of wings. 

They both wore tight, no nonsense outfits. Black pants, sensible shoes, gloves like they didn’t want to get their hands dirty. There were only a few differences in their clothing: Ladybug’s shirt was red instead of black, her pants stopped just after her knees while his went to his ankles, and she wore sneakers instead of the black boot Chat wore.

Chloe hoped those boots weren’t leather, not in this weather. Sure, it did sort of complete his tacky look, but that was hardly a good reason to ruin perfectly good shoes.

But even though they looked the same as ever, Chloe found herself noticing things about them she had never noticed before.

For one thing, Chloe was pretty sure she could smell them now. Not that she could have told anyone what they smelled like. They just smelled like themselves, in an indescribable and sort of overwhelming kind of way.

More than that, Chloe could practically feel power radiating off the two of them. And somehow, even though she had never been able to feel that before, the feeling that came from them was familiar to her. Chat’s was even more familiar than Ladybug’s was, and Chloe couldn’t imagine why that would be. She narrowed her eyes at him like that would somehow help her figure it out.

He didn’t notice Chloe staring at him any more than his partner had, talking to Ladybug instead. “Oh, I knew you could do it, My Lady. I was just afraid that she might give up, let her life slip away without fighting back.”

Ladybug snorted. “Please. Chloe, going into the light without a fuss? Ridiculous.”

Chloe rubbed her face with her hands. Her head felt so weird, and their voices were grating on her nerves. Which was a surprise, at least as far as Ladybug was concerned. Ladybug was the hero of Paris. Chloe shouldn’t have been able to find her annoying.

Except she had talked like she wasn’t sure she wanted to save Chloe, which was pretty sucky of her.

Chloe glared at Ladybug, and she kept glaring until the heroine noticed her.

Ladybug looked surprised. “Are you okay?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“You bit me,” Chloe said flatly.

Ladybug scowled at her. “Only because it was the only way to save you. To stop you from turning into one of those monsters.”

Chloe huffed. “What took you so long? That was really painful, you know.”

Ladybug’s expression morphed into one of pure horror. “You could still feel things? You were conscious?”

“And in pain. I could feel everything,” Chloe snapped. The guilt on Ladybug’s face made her feel better for a second, but then she started to worry that Ladybug was going to cry. So maybe she’d hesitated to save Chloe because she thought Chloe was a bully, but she’d apparently also thought Chloe was unconscious and delaying wouldn’t matter, and she was kind of right about the bully thing. Chloe did tend to point out people’s weaknesses to them, and yeah, sometimes they were wimps and cried about it, which wasn’t really her fault, but she did see how someone could have misunderstood her.

Even someone as amazing Ladybug, hero of Paris.

“Oh, geez. Calm down. I’m not in pain anymore,” Chloe said generously, letting Ladybug off the hook like the magnanimous person she was. After all, Ladybug had literally just rescued her from life as a creepy shadow thing.

But Ladybug didn’t look relieved by Chloe’s words. She ignored her and addressed Chat, her voice nothing more than a traumatized whisper. “If they can still feel things after they die, after they start turning, do you think they can still feel things after they’ve turned? Do you think there are still people in there somewhere, inside those monsters? Do you think they’re still aware of what’s going on? Still… still in pain?”

Chat sucked in a shaky breath. “I hope not. But if they are, we’ll find a way to save them.”

“How? How are we going to do that, Chat? It’s all we can do just to keep them from destroying Paris, turning everyone into Papillion’s puppets!” Ladybug’s voice rose to a yell, her tone harsh. Chat flinched and she relaxed a little. “Sorry. I just… I never thought…” She stopped talking to bury her face in her hands. Her shoulders started to shake.

“Don’t be such a crybaby.” Chloe was even more surprised at her own words than Chat and Ladybug were. They stared at her startled, but something inside Chloe drove her to keep talking. “You can’t afford to dwell on that. You can’t afford to let it break you. You have to keep protecting Paris. You have to keep on saving the people you can save. And if you want to look for a cure for the ones you couldn’t, then do that, but freaking out about it, asking yourself what they’re feeling, won’t help them. All it will do is make you feel guilty about something that’s not your fault and throw you off your game.”

Ladybug blinked at her for a few times. “You’re right. Wow. That’s weird.”

Chat leaned down, his face getting uncomfortably close to Chloe, his lips stretching into a wide smile. “I knew it. I totally knew it.”

Chloe glared at him. Have you never heard of personal space? Get out of my face, you mangy fleabag.”

He sighed. “And then there’s that.”

Ladybug got to her feet, her expression determined, fearless, the way she normally was, all traces of despair and fear gone. “We need to get her to Master Fu so he can explain things to her.”

Chat nodded in agreement and held out his hand to help Chloe up. She ignored him and stood up on her own.

Or tried to, anyway. The second she got to her feet, her knees gave out from under her and she collapsed, falling back toward the pavement.

Ladybug and Chat both grabbed her before she could hit the ground. They each slung one of her arms over their shoulders, supporting her weight between them.

The three of them started to walk, steering her the opposite way from the direction Chloe had come in.

Chloe paused, glancing over her shoulder.

“Is something, wrong, Chloe?” Chat asked.

Chloe looked at him speculatively. “Before you guys take me to this Master Fu person, do you think we could go and get my shoes? Assuming they haven’t been ruined by this awful rain like my hair has, of course.”

Ladybug groaned, exasperated. Chat just gave Chloe a mildly irritated look.

“What? I’m not dying anymore, and I want my shoes back. They’re just like, three minutes that direction.” Chloe pointed the way she had come.

“We’re not going back for shoes!” Ladybug was practically growling now, which really wasn’t all that ladybug of her.

Chloe stared her down. “You sure about that? The thing that attacked me went that way after he killed me. I think. Anyway, shouldn’t you like, go after him? Make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else?”

Chat and Ladybug exchanged glances.

“You see?” Chloe said triumphantly. “You guys need to go after him, and we can just grab my shoes on the way.”

“Did he really go that way?” Ladybug asked Chat.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s too hard to smell anything in this rain.” He paused uncertainly. “They usually disappear for a while after they feed off someone.”

Ladybug frowned. “Still, we should double check.”

Chloe grinned cheerfully. They walked back to where Chloe had ditched her shoes, but they didn’t see any sign of the monster who had attacked her.

Ladybug and Chat Noir eased Chloe onto the curb. “Stay here for a moment. We’re going to look for him a little.”

Chloe nodded happily as her idol and her idol’s sidekick took off. She put her shoes back on her feet. Luckily for her, she hadn’t elected to wear anything leather today, knowing it might rain, so her shoes were fine.

The same could not be said about her hair, but given fifteen minutes in her own bathroom, and Chloe would be able to fix that. Unlike her outfit, which had been pretty thoroughly drenched in blood. It was probably ruined, and even if it wasn’t, Chloe was probably going to burn it. She didn’t need any reminders of the day the world had almost been deprived of her beautiful face.

Thinking about her sort-of-death experience made Chloe feel sick, so she pushed it out of her mind as she fussed over her rain-soaked hair, as if getting soaking wet was the worst thing that had happened to her today.

Eventually, Ladybug and Chat Noir came back. “Didn’t see any sign of him,” Chat Noir said cheerfully, as if this was good news.

Chloe scowled at him. “Great. So the freaky beast is still out there somewhere.”

Ladybug shot her an annoyed look. “Let’s just get you to Master Fu already.”

“I could carry her,” Chat suggested. “I know you can’t fly when it’s raining this hard, but you could run ahead, tell Master Fu what happened.”

Ladybug nodded thoughtfully. “That’s not a bad idea. Alright. I’ll see you there, then.”

“What? Don’t leave me with the alley cat!” Chloe protested, feeling panic rise in her chest at the thought of her savior leaving. She was too weak to stand. If any more of those creatures came she’d be a sitting duck, and she wasn’t at all sure Chat would be any help.

But Ladybug ran off without giving her a second glance.

Chat knelt in front of her and held out his arms for her to climb on his back.

“Seriously?” Chloe asked. “You’re going to carry me piggyback?”

“Unless you think you can walk,” Chat retorted.

Chloe sighed. “Fine.” She put her hands on his shoulders and he grabbed her legs and pulled her onto his back.

He started walking. “Whoa. You’re heavier than I thought you’d be. I mean, Ladybug’s not this heavy.” He frowned. “Did you use to weigh this much?”

“Ugh. You can’t just say things like that to a girl. Especially not to me.”

Chat was silent for a moment. “Sorry. I didn’t mean…” He sighed. “Are you sure you’re okay, Chloe?”

She pouted at him. “No, I’m not okay. My hair is ruined, my outfit is ruined, and my dad is probably worried sick, but I feel really weird, and I don’t think I should go home until I figure out why, or I’ll just end up making him worry more. Does that sound okay to you?”

He stared at her for a few seconds. “And you died today, Chloe. You can’t just pretend that doesn’t bother you.”

Chloe scoffed. “Who’s pretending?” she asked in her rudest voice, hoping he’d get the hint and shut up.

He did. He didn’t say anything else to her as he carried her through Paris.

It wasn’t too long though before Chat headed off the street, like he was going to go in this unremarkable building Chloe would never have visited under her own power.

“Is this a massage place? Why are we going to go to a massage place? My dad’s hotel has its own masseuse, you know. I don’t need a massage,” Chloe said.

Chat gave her an unimpressed look. “This is where Master Fu lives, Chloe.”

Chloe gave him an unimpressed look of her own. “Here? Why are we coming to see someone who lives in a place like this?”

Chat sighed. “Because he knows more about this than Ladybug and I do.”

Chloe snorted. “I seriously doubt he knows more than Ladybug. Ladybug knows everything.”

A smile Chloe didn’t understand tugged at the corner of Chat’s mouth. “Ladybug is amazing, it’s true. But she definitely doesn’t know everything.”

Chloe was half tempted to ask him what he meant, or maybe yell at him for doubting Ladybug, but then he carried her inside a room where Ladybug and some old Chinese guy were talking, and Chloe was rendered speechless.

Not by the room. It wasn’t particularly impressive. And certainly not by the old Chinese guy. He was even less impressive than the room.

No, what shut Chloe up was the fact that for just a second when Chat stepped into the room, the whole world changed colors.

The old man smiled at her warmly. “Welcome, Chloe,” he said. “Ladybug has told me what happened to you. We’ve got quite a lot to talk about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary:  
> -Creepy shadow vampire chases Chloe through the streets of Paris. It bites her, drinks some of her blood, and leaves her on the street to die  
> -Ladybug and Chat Noir show up to help, but Chloe's already dead  
> -Chloe starts to transform into one of the shadow vampires, and Chat says they have to bite her to save her  
> -Ladybug bites Chloe's wrist, and Chloe sees a bright light. She decides not to go into it because she wants a chance to make her life mean something. Then she wakes up, feeling different than she did before  
> -Ladybug and Chat Noir decide to take her to Master Fu so he can explain some things to Chloe. Ladybug goes on ahead to explain things to him while Chat carries Chloe there


	2. Ladybug

Ladybug looked away as Chat carried Chloe into the room and set her down on the floor.

She’d had to save Chloe, of course. Chloe might be a bully, but that didn’t mean she deserved to die.

But since Ladybug had saved her, she was now responsible for her. She was going to have to spend a lot more time with her, and she and Chloe were now connected. Forever.

Suddenly, it was starting to sink in just how long forever was.

Chloe took her seat by the table, and Chat sat next to her. Ladybug couldn’t help but feel irritated. Chat was always kind, always worried about others, but it seemed like he was being extra protective of Chloe, and Ladybug couldn’t figure out why. 

Maybe she was imagining it. After all, what possible reason could Chat have to care so much about Chloe?

Master Fu set a cup down in front of Chloe. “Have a drink, my dear. Some tea with honey will make you feel better.”

Ladybug waited for Chloe to sniff haughtily and refuse the tea, possibly adding some insult about Master Fu’s cup or his place or himself.

But to her surprise, Chloe just blinked a couple of times, nodded obediently, and picked up the cup.

She took a sip and her eyes widened. She yelped and dropped the cup, and it would have spilled everywhere if Chat Noir hadn’t caught it with reflexes that were, well, cat-like.

For a moment, Chloe stared at Master Fu. He smiled at her knowingly, and Chloe’s eyes narrowed. Then she took the cup back from Chat Noir, sniffed it a couple times, and then started sipping from it again.

“Interesting,” Master Fu said, his voice calm as ever. He looked at Chloe with a softer smile than Ladybug had seen on his face in a while.

Ladybug stared at him blankly. If she didn’t know better, she’d almost think that Master Fu actually liked Chloe. Which was impossible. Master Fu was wise and knowing and Chloe was… Chloe.

Chloe finished her drink and set the cup down, her expression and body language stiff and standoffish. Master Fu smiled at her and poured another cup of tea, mixing some honey into it. A lot of honey, actually. Like, so much honey there was probably more honey than tea in the cup.

Chloe watched him add the honey with an expression that could only be described as hungry. He put the cup down in front of her, and Chloe grabbed it and downed it, like it wasn’t hot and probably way too sweet, like it was water and she’d just spent three weeks wandering through the desert.

He poured her more tea and honey. This one Chloe sipped at like a civilized person.

“So. You said we had things to talk about,” she said haughtily, as if none of the events of the last two minutes had even happened.

Ladybug looked at Chat. He met her eyes, looking as startled as she felt.

Master Fu just smiled patiently. “Yes. Ladybug told me what she could about what happened, but I wondered if I could ask you a couple of questions. To help me understand a little more clearly.”

Chloe glared at him. “I’m not upset about what happened.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you if you were,” Master Fu said, pouring another cup of tea, adding a reasonable amount of honey to it, and offering it to Ladybug.

She accepted it quietly and he poured another cup for Chat.

Chloe blinked a couple of times. For just a moment, she actually seemed a little flustered, something that almost never happened. Then her usual cold expression slammed back onto her face. “Then what were you going to ask? Get on with it, old man. I don’t have all day. Or all night, or whatever. What’s happening to me? Why is everything so weird?”

Ladybug felt her blood boil at the tone of Chloe’s voice. “Hey!” she scolded. “Show some respect.”

Master Fu waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine.” He finished pouring a fourth cup of tea and started pouring a fifth. Then he set one cup down on the table before he took a seat across the table from Chloe, leaving Ladybug the only one still standing.

He focused on Chloe as he sipped from his own cup of tea. Chloe didn’t meet his eyes, staring at the fifth cup of tea with a confused expression, probably wondering why there were more cups of tea than there were people in the room.

Ladybug grinned as she sipped her own tea. Chloe was in for such as a surprise.

“Now, my dear,” Master Fu said, either not noticing or not caring about the fact that Chloe was clearly distracted. “If you could just tell me something. I’m sorry if this is a bit awkward, but when Ladybug bit you, you had a chance to die. You chose to fight for your life instead of just slipping away. Why?”

Chloe’s snapped from the tea to him. “Isn’t that kind of personal? Why should I tell you?”

His smile didn’t waver in the slightest. “It’s important. When you decided to fight, what were you thinking?”

For a moment, Chloe and Master Fu had a staring contest. Then Chloe huffed. “I was thinking I should fight the light.”

“That’s it?” Master Fu asked.

She glared at him. “What kind of question is that? Of course, I’m sure.”

Master Fu nodded. “I see. What…”

Ladybug stomped out of the room, leaving Master Fu and Chloe staring after her in surprise. Chat ran out after her. “What’s wrong, Bugaboo?”

Ladybug waved one hand at the door. “Chloe. You know, when we transformed, when we felt our lives slipping away, we chose to fight for good reasons. Paris needed us, so we fought back so we could be the heroes Paris needed. But Chloe? She just fought back for the sake of fighting back. She basically fought back just to be cantankerous.”

Chat pursed his lips. “Don’t you mean cat-tankerous?”

Ladybug stomped her foot in frustration. “Chat!”

He held up his hands placatingly even as he laughed. “I’m sorry. But, m’lady, you can’t really think Chloe was telling the truth.”

Ladybug’s eyes narrowed. “You think she was lying?”

He shook his head. “I think her reasons for fighting were probably pretty personal. Maybe she wasn’t comfortable opening up and talking about it. Can you really blame her for that? I mean, it took us a long time to really talk openly about what we thought when we were faced with the light.”

Ladybug sighed. She hated it when Chat was right. “Yeah, I guess.”

He smiled at her. “Let’s go back in.”

They walked back inside. Chloe was saying something to Master Fu, but her mouth snapped shut the instant the door opened.

Master Fu smiled at them. “You’re just in time. I was just about to ask Chloe another question.” He smiled reassuringly at Chloe. “Don’t worry, this one is less personal. After Ladybug saved you, you saw a light. What color was it?”

Chloe’s eyes stared at him. “What?”

“What color was the light?” Master Fu asked again.

She frowned, her brows furrowing. “How is that relevant?” She stared at Master Fu for a moment. His smile didn’t waver. She set her cup down on the table and looked at it instead of him as she spoke. “Yellow.”

Master Fu nodded sagely. “I see. Did you notice anything else? Any feelings or sounds or smells or perhaps tastes that came along with the light?”

Chloe frowned. She must have been very distracted, because nothing she said sounded remotely rude. “I guess. It felt like I was covered in some kind of liquid. Thicker and slower than water, but I don’t know what it was. Something… sweet. And there was this buzzing, which still hasn’t stopped, actually.” She looked up at him and bit her lip, her expression hesitant before she spoke again.

Ladybug had never seen her look like that. Not as Ladybug, not as Marinette. She’d never seen Chloe look like that. Almost… vulnerable.

Chloe spoke, her voice surprisingly quiet. “And when I first came in here, the colors all changed for a moment. They were all wrong.” Her shoulders tensed. “But I’m not crazy.”

Master Fu nodded, looking unsurprised. “I see. I only have one more question for you. May I see your teeth?”

All three of the teenagers in the room stared at him.

“Her teeth?” Ladybug asked, feeling unsure if she’d heard him correctly.

“Why do you need to see her teeth?” Chat asked, sounding equally unsure and confused.

Master Fu just smiled at Chloe. She stared at him for a long moment, and the expression on her face made Ladybug feel sure she was about to call Master Fu a freak, but then Chloe slowly opened her mouth to show him her teeth.

Or her fangs, as it turned out.

Ladybug leaned forward, staring at the fangs Chloe had grown. Then she looked at Master Fu. “Are those… are those what I think are?”

Master Fu sighed and nodded slowly, his expression sad.

Chat glanced between the two of them, clearly not understanding what they were talking about.

Neither was Chloe. Her eyes flicked to Ladybug and back to Master Fu. “What? What is it? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?”

She touched her tongue to her teeth and yelped when she felt the fangs.

“It seems,” Master Fu said, looking at Chloe with the utmost sympathy. “That Ladybug and Chat Noir were not able to completely prevent your transformation into one of Papillion’s creatures of darkness.”

Chloe’s eyes widened. “What? What does that mean?”

Master Fu smiled at her, kindly, but also sadly. “While you were able to retain your personality and free will, you do have some of the traits of Papillion’s puppets. Like the fangs that they have. And who knows exactly what other traits of theirs you’ve gotten.”

Chloe didn’t answer, just staring at Master Fu with wide eyes. It looked like she was having trouble breathing.

Chat reached out like he was going to put his hand on Chloe’s shoulder, then pulled back and looked at the floor instead.

Master Fu kept talking. “And, because Ladybug bit you, you will have some other traits as well.” He nodded at the cup in front of her. “Other qualities and powers.”

Chloe blinked a couple of times. “Powers? What… what do you mean by that?”

She looked like she was about to freak out, but she was still fighting to keep her expression composed.

Master Fu sipped his tea, clearly in no hurry to say anything else as the last vestiges of Chloe’s calm slowly frayed.

Ladybug sighed and took a step forward, taking a seat at the table beside Chloe. “I assume you’ve heard Alya’s theories about how Chat and I are were-creatures.”

Alya Cesaire had started a blog about Paris’ two new superheroes the very week Ladybug and Chat had gotten their powers. It had quickly become the most reliable way to get information on the shadow creatures attacking Paris, and on the heroes working endlessly to protect it from them.

By far her most popular post was the one where she’d theorized that Ladybug and Chat Noir were respectively a were-ladybug and a were-cat. A lot of people had argued that there was no way that someone as powerful as Ladybug could be something as absurd as they thought a were-ladybug was, but most of Alya’s points had, in fact, been correct.

Chloe nodded slowly. “Yeah, of course. I follow everything about you, because I’m like, your biggest fan.” Then she frowned. “Wait, are you telling me she was right?”

Ladybug nodded slowly. “Yes. That’s exactly what we are, though our powers don’t work exactly as people might expect a were-creatures power to work. And the process itself isn’t exactly what you might think.”

“The process? To become a were? You mean when you bit me? That’s the process, right?” Chloe asked.

Ladybug glanced to Chat and then to Master Fu. “We didn’t have time to change you the way people are normally changed. Biting you was kind of… like a Hail Mary pass. A desperate attempt to save you. Not exactly a normal thing.”

“Oh, so you don’t normally go around biting people?” Chloe asked. “I feel so special.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes and stood up. If Chloe was just going to be a brat about, then she wasn’t going to explain anything else to her.

Master Fu picked up where Ladybug had left off. “Ordinarily, we would explain to anyone who we were considering changing what the process entailed, what the risks are. Then we would help them to determine what kind of animal is most likely to suit them, and make certain that that guardian was available to bond and have them spend some time together, give them time to decide if they truly wished to do it, and then the transformation would be done by that guardian directly.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows at him. “What?”

Chat piped up then. “Well, see, there are these special guardian spirits of the world. One for each kind of animal in the world. Well, we don’t actually know if all the animals in the world have a guardian spirit, but a lot of them do, for sure, and we’re assuming that the rest of them do, too, just because it would make sense.”

Chloe gave him an unimpressed look, like that explanation had not been as helpful as he might have thought it’d be, but she didn’t say anything.

Master Fu nodded agreeably. “Correct. And if one of these guardian spirit chooses to, they can bite a human to start a physical transformation, and then merge their souls to lend that human all of their power, creating powerful were-creatures like Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“And you,” Ladybug added, looking at Master Fu.

Master Fu shook his head. “I am too old to be powerful. Too old even to transform.” He looked back at Chloe. “If a were-creature, a human and guardian spirit joined together, bites a human, there a couple of things that could possibly happen. The bitten human might just get a few of the traits of the were-creature that bit them. Or if they were injured, they might simply heal without gaining any of the traits of the were-creature, particularly when bitten by someone like Ladybug, who is gifted with healing.” He paused for a moment. “But neither of those things are what happened to you.”

Chloe glared at him. “Great. That’s incredibly helpful information. So what did happen to me, if it wasn’t either of those things?”

Her impatience didn’t seem to bother Master Fu. “What happened was that Ladybug’s bite acted as a simple kickstart, beginning the physical transformation, which a guardian spirit then chose to continue.”

“What?” Chloe asked, clearly not following and for some reason, feeling the need to talk in the snottiest voice she could manage.

Ladybug sighed, her nerves fraying quickly. She didn’t know how much Chloe she could take. Forever was sounding longer and longer by the second. “My bite took the place of a guardian spirit’s bite. It started a physical transformation, giving you some of the traits of a were-creature, but then a guardian spirit elected to join souls with you, turning you into a full were-creature.”

“Yeah, but we don’t know what kind of were-creature you are yet,” Chat added. “We don’t know what guardian spirit chose to save you.”

Ladybug glanced at Master Fu, at the knowing smile that was now back on his face. She wasn’t at all sure what Chat had said was true, at least not as far as Master Fu was concerned. But if he wasn’t offering that information right now, he must think it was better for Chloe to work it out on her own or something, so Ladybug wasn’t going to push him.

She looked back at Chloe. “Anyway. You might not be exactly like Chat and I, since I bit you instead of a guardian spirit, but you will be a were. Over time you’ll figure out how to transform, and eventually, you’ll figure out your special powers and learn how to fight.”

Chloe just stared at her vacantly. Most likely, she was trying to process what Ladybug was saying, what they had told her about herself, her new and improved existence.

“Perhaps,” Master Fu said cheerfully. “It would be helpful for you to meet a guardian spirit. Trixx would probably like some tea anyways.” He stood up and opened one of his cabinet doors. “Trixx? Would you like to join us for tea? You can meet our newest were.”

There was no response. Master Fu poked his head in. “Uh-oh.” He pulled his head out of the cabinet and gave Ladybug a sheepish look.

She knew that look. Apparently, she’d been wrong. Chloe was not the one who was going to be getting a surprise. She was not going to be startled by the appearance of the fox guardian spirit.

No, instead, Ladybug was the one being surprised, surprised that Trixx was gone, and then surprised at her own surprise.

Of course, Trixx was gone. She wasn’t the fox spirit for nothing.

Ladybug groaned aloud. “Not again. Doesn’t she remember what happened last time, when she picked the worst possible person to bond to? She’s lucky we managed to break the bond last time. If she messes up again…”

Chat stood up and looked at Ladybug with eyes that were awfully puppy dog for a were-cat. “What happened with Lila wasn’t Trixx’s fault.”

Ladybug huffed and turned to Master Fu. “We’ll find her and bring her back,” she promised.

He nodded. “I’m sure you will. Just be careful.”

Ladybug smiled at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep Chat out of trouble.”

Chat rolled his eyes at her and got to his feet. “Oh, please. If anything, I keep you out of trouble, Bugaboo.”

“Sure you do,” Ladybug said, drawling out her words to make them extra sarcastic. “Come on, kitty. We’ve got a fox to find.”

They ran out of the building and hit the streets, splitting up in an attempt to find Trixx faster.

Ladybug couldn’t help but think that of all the nights for it to be raining, tonight had to be the worst.

Trixx hated the rain, which meant that she would be spending all of her time trying to stay out of it. That meant she’d be ducking under cars and cutting through buildings, which would make it much harder to find her.

At least, that was what Ladybug had expected, and for the first five minutes, it seemed like it was going to be true.

Then she heard the screaming.

Instantly, Ladybug sprinted in the direction of the screaming. Had there been another attack while they’d been preoccupied with Chloe? Two attacks in a night was unusual, but not unheard of. She should have considered it. She should have insisted they keep patrolling.

She should have stopped Papillion by now.

She pushed that thought away and focused on running, wishing that it wasn’t raining so hard, that she could fly there. She’d be there so much faster.

But she did get there, in time to see Chat running toward the screaming from the other direction. He’d heard it too.

And that was good, because Ladybug doubted there was much she could have done about the scene in front of her by herself.

She was used to seeing single shadow creatures attack small groups of people. And she had learned to adjust to the times when there were two of them, or when one shadow creature partially infected several people, temporarily putting those people under their control, forcing Ladybug to fight and cure multiple partially transformed assailants.

But this was something else entirely. This was a group of no less than ten fully transformed shadows surrounding a group of almost thirty civilians. Civilians who were not dressed to be out in the rain, who had probably been pulled out of their homes or cars.

The civilians were backed up against a building with its glass door and windows shattered. The shadows, were for some reason, milling around and not attacking them, but whatever reason they had to not attack the civilians, Ladybug couldn’t expect it to last.

Ladybug lunged forward, vaguely noticing Chat doing the same thing on the other side of the group of shadows. She tackled the nearest shadow, and whatever spell they were under broke.

The shadows started attacking, though they focused on her and Chat instead of targeting the civilians. That was pretty typical. They’d infect as many people as they could before she and Chat caught up with them, but once they were there, the shadows went after them, trying to eliminate the only real threats to their master, since no ordinary weapons or people could damage the shadow monsters.

Several shadow monsters threw themselves at Ladybug. She held out her hands and used the best power she’d gotten from the guardian spirit that she was bonded to.

Millions of small red bubbles, roughly the size of a ladybug, roared away from her and colliding with and sticking to each other, forming chains that wrapped around the shadows limbs.

The shadows hissed as the bubbles touched them. Ladybug grabbed the ends of the chains, pulling hard on one to bring a shadow crashing towards hers so she could kick him hard in the gut.

She moved in a dance she’d practiced a thousand times, untangling one chain from a shadow’s arm to wrap it around another shadow’s leg, kicking one shadow and slamming an elbow into another, releasing one chain, leaving it to float in the air to grab another one, bringing a shadow down to its knees.

But it wasn’t enough. She wasn’t used to fighting six shadows at once, especially not without Chat at her side. He was having issues fighting the four that were after him, even with the dark liquid that surrounded his clawed hands, bleeding into the air with every movement he made, burning away any part of any shadow that touched it, forcing them to fall back to regenerate.

One of the shadows Ladybug was fighting broke away from her, lunging for the civilians, obviously planning on turning one or more of them to give her more people to fight.

She didn’t understand why they hadn’t turned anyone yet, but she couldn’t let them do it now.

Ladybug threw herself forward, trying to put herself between the shadows and the civilians.

She never got there. The nearest civilian was still a few inches from her fingertips when a blinding light and a staggering wind came out of nowhere, slamming into Ladybug and pushing her backwards.

She yelped in surprise and closed her eyes against the light, throwing her arms out just before she crashed into the side of a building.

The light and wind faded and Ladybug opened her eyes.

She knew what that was. Of course she did. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen a power like that, but it was still hard to process.

After months of Chat and her being Paris’ only defense, they had been joined by a new hero, a were-fox who had turned against them. Ladybug had wondered if she would ever be able to trust another person to join them ever again.

But tonight, Chloe had become a were. And now, it looked like there was another one. Another were. Another fox.

Another Volpina.


	3. Chloe

Chloe had tried to focus on what Master Fu and Ladybug and even that ridiculous Chat Noir had told her. She really had.

But through the entire conversation, a huge part of Chloe’s brain was screaming for more honey, another part of her brain was incredibly distracted by the way the colors in the room kept switching on her, and a third part of her brain was whining loudly about the way something deep inside her was still buzzing.

So only a small part of her brain was available to process what they were telling her, or to object when Ladybug and Chat Noir ran off after something called Trixx and left her alone with a weird old guy who kept looking at her like he knew something she didn’t.

Chloe glared at the old man. “So what? I’m some sort of a hybrid thing? Some sort of mix between a were-whatever and one of those gross shadow creatures? Like a mutt? Am I a mutt now? Because that’s unacceptable.”

Master Fu or whatever his name was chuckled. “I wouldn’t call you a mutt. But you are indeed a hybrid. Something special. Unique. Something I have never seen before.”

His voice was full of sincerity as he spoke. Not only that, but he said that like it was a good thing. Chloe wasn’t a freak. She was just something special. And she was okay with that.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and snorted delicately. “Well, that’s nothing new. I’ve always been one of a kind.”

He smiled agreeably. “Naturally. Tell me, my dear, do you know what guardian spirit you have bonded with yet? Can you feel her deep inside you? Can you hear her voice in your mind?”

Chloe stared at him. “What? Hear a voice? In my head? Uh no. I’m not crazy.”

“You’re only crazy if you hear voices that aren’t there,” Master Fu said mildly. “I am asking you if you hear a voice in your head that is there. The guardian spirits, or kwamis, as we sometimes call them, often communicate with the humans they are bonded with in times of high stress or danger, to offer them advice or warnings or help. I thought that perhaps, your kwami had talked to you.”

“Nope,” Chloe said. “No voices in my head, helpful or otherwise. I mean, except my own. Because I think. Obviously.”

Master Fu nodded. “Do you feel any different than you did before Ladybug bit you?”

Chloe glared at him. “Nope. I feel the same as ever.” She shifted positions. “Look, is anything freaky going to happen to me? Anything freakier than the fangs, I mean. I’m already going to have quite the time keeping that from my dad. And Sabrina. And Adrien…. Actually, Adrien’s pretty oblivious. He probably won’t notice.”

Master Fu stroked his beard thoughtfully. “I don’t think you should be developing any further changes from the shadow creature biting you, though it is possible other changes have already occurred which we simply can’t see or haven’t yet noticed. And of course, sooner or later, you will transform into a were-creature. The first time, it often happens accidentally.”

“I’m going to turn into a were-creature? You mean like what Ladybug and Chat Noir are?” Chloe asked.

He nodded.

She huffed. “But I’m not going to look any weirder than they do, right? Because if I just look like them, I think I can explain that to my dad without him freaking out on me.”

Master Fu tilted his head. “But what if your transformation happens in front of someone other than your father? What if it happens in front of one of those creatures? If Papillion finds out that you are a were, he will target you. And everyone you care about.” 

Chloe scowled at him. It wasn’t like anything he’d just said was actually his fault, but Chloe had never been good at the whole “don’t shoot the messenger” thing. “What are you saying, old man?”

He didn’t take offense to that. Chloe got the feeling that he wasn’t going to take offense to anything she said, that no matter how insulting anything she said was, he would not be offended. She wasn’t used to that, and facing it now made her feel strange.

Well, stranger.

“I’m saying,” Master Fu said. “That you should figure out how to transform and detransform before you leave here. That way, you can be sure that it won’t happen accidentally later.”

Chloe glared at him, but he had made some pretty solid points. “Fine. How do I do that? How do I transform or whatever?”

Master Fu shook his head. “That is different for every were-creature. You must reach deep inside yourself. You must listen to the guardian spirit within you, and transform in whatever way the kwami tells you to. It is the only way to intentionally transform. Otherwise, you will find yourself transforming unintentionally later, as soon as something happens to trigger it, and we have no way of knowing what that would be.”

Chloe stared at him for a long moment. “Okay. That’s awesome and all, old geezer, but do you think you could maybe say something a little less cryptic than ‘reach inside yourself?’ Because that is totally unhelpful.”

He shook his head, still smiling cheerfully. Then he closed his eyes and began breathing deeply.

“What are you doing? Are you… are you meditating right now? Seriously? Isn’t that rude to do with people around?” Chloe asked. He didn’t answer her. After a moment of glaring at him, which of course he didn’t see, Chloe spoke again. “Hey! You know, it’s rude to ignore people when they’re talking to you.”

He opened one eye and gave Chloe an amused smile. “Reach inside, Chloe,” he said. Then he closed his eyes again and resumed his deep breathing.

Chloe frowned at him for a minute. “You want me to meditate? Seriously?”

Master Fu ignored her completely, continuing his deep breaths.

Chloe huffed, irritated. Then she closed her eyes. “I’m not even sure how to do this,” she said. “What do you even think about? Shopping?”

“Listen to the voice deep inside you, Chloe,” Master Fu said.

“I already told you, I don’t hear any voices in my head, besides mine, and I don’t even think I want to,” Chloe growled. But she kept her eyes closed, focusing on the buzzing she could feel inside her, inside her bones, it seemed. She focused on the strength she felt coursing through her, slower and thicker than water bringing with it a sweet, familiar taste she couldn’t quite place…

The buzzing got worse, making Chloe feel like her whole body was going to shake itself into little pieces.

She opened her eyes just in time to see that her whole body had started to glow with light like she was about to go nuclear.

She screamed almost as loudly as she had when the shadow creature was chasing her and scrambled to her feet, looking around desperately for water or something to dump on herself before she spontaneously combusted or exploded or whatever was about to happen to her which clearly couldn’t be a good…

She didn’t even realize that she was moving as she panicked until she tripped over the table and faceplanted on the floor.

But at least that made the intense buzzing and scary glowing stop.

And it didn’t seem like it had actually broken her nose, so everything was okay. Even though she’d just had a moment so clumsy it seemed like something Marinette would do.

Master Fu opened his eyes and looked at her with a wide smile. “That was very good, Chloe! You got very close. I’m sure if you just try it one more time, you’ll get it.”

Chloe pushed herself up onto her hands and knees before she looked at him, one hand rubbing her nose. “Are you crazy? I’m never doing that again. I thought I was going to explode!”

Master Fu shrugged. “Okay. You don’t have to try again if you don’t want to. You can just wait until it happens randomly somewhere. In front of your dad, in front of a shadow monster on the street, in front of all your friends at school. I hope you don’t turn to out to be any embarrassing kind of were-creature. Like a were-skunk. Can you imagine if everyone at school knew you were a were-skunk?”

Chloe folded her arms and huffed again. “Oh, please. I’m not stupid. The guardian spirit or kwami or whatever inside of me is clearly a bee.”

Master Fu just gave her another amused smile.

“It is a bee, right?” Chloe asked, suddenly feeling much less sure than she had just a second ago.

“You would know better than I would,” Master Fu said. “You are the one who is bonded to her.”

“Her?” Chloe asked. “It’s a her? This thing I’m bonded to is girl? Or female, or whatever?”

Master Fu nodded sagely as he closed his eyes again. “Yes. And she will not make you explode. If you didn’t die when she bonded with you, you’re not going to die now.”

Chloe flinched. “Could we maybe not talk about dying anymore? I’ve kind of had more than my fill of that today.”

Master Fu nodded again but didn’t say anything else.

Chloe sighed and closed her eyes again. She focused on the buzzing inside her, surprised to find it much fainter than it had been before. She braced herself for it to get worse, for it to make her feel like she was about to shake apart, for her skin to start glowing again.

But this time, nothing happened.

After several incredibly boring minutes that felt like hours, Chloe finally opened her eyes again to look at her skin, wondering if the glowing was happening without the buzzing, even though she didn’t think it was.

It wasn’t.

Chloe looked at Master Fu, whose head was bobbing like he’d fallen asleep.

Something inside of Chloe snapped. “That’s it! I am not staying here any longer, trying to transform into some freaky were-creature so that I can be another hero of Paris, or whatever! Whoever or whatever my guardian spirit is, she is not cooperating, and I am sick of waiting for her to talk to me!”

Master Fu didn’t say anything in response to her outburst. He didn’t even wake up.

Chloe stood up. “Fine! I’m leaving, since I obviously am not going to transform anytime soon.”

She stomped out, slamming the door good and loud behind her.

She headed towards the hotel, stomping her feet and swinging her arms with more aggression that was at all necessary the entire way there.

It wasn’t until she was within sight of the hotel that she remembered that the rain hadn’t actually washed all the blood out of her shirt, and that as freaked out as her dad probably was that she wasn’t home yet, it would just be worse if he saw her like this.

Which left Chloe with only one option: sneak into the hotel. Dripping wet. In heels.

Easy as pie.

‘Or you could just fly up there,’ something inside of Chloe suggested.

Chloe blinked. Where had that thought come from? Wherever it was, it was obviously not a helpful place, because Chloe could not fly. She might not be as much of a klutz as stupid Marinette, but she had fallen enough times in her life to be sure that flying was not one of her many, many talents.

She snuck around the outside of the hotel, looking for a way in where no one see her.

Eventually, she crawled in through a window into an empty room and snuck up the stairs to her room.

Which sucked. Chloe always used the elevator instead of the stairs, but people were more likely to see her if she took the elevator, so she was stuck climbing the stupid stairs like a stupid peasant.

She also had to duck behind an awful lot of potted plants and corners to avoid being spotted. Honestly, if she hadn’t spent so much time sneaking around the hotel for fun with Sabrina, pretending to be Ladybug while Sabrina pretended to be Chat Noir, fighting imaginary shadow creatures and saving Paris, she wasn’t sure she could have done it.

But as it was, she managed to get up to her room without being seen by anyone. Chloe was really proud of herself for that.

She changed quickly into clean clothes, dumping her old ones into the trashcan, since she never wanted to see them again, and headed back downstairs to find her dad.

The Mayor was standing in the hotel lobby, yelling at someone over the phone. Chloe didn’t have to hear more than a couple of words to know that he was talking to the police, demanding that they send out search parties for her immediately.

“Daddy!” Chloe yelled to get his attention.

He looked up at her and broke into a wide smile. “Chloe! Sweetheart! I was so worried about you! Are you okay?”

She ran towards him, throwing herself into her father’s open arms. He wrapped her up into a tight hug, holding her close for a couple of minutes without saying anything else.

Chloe felt the tension draining out of her body as he held her. She hadn’t realized how much she had just needed this. Needed a hug. Needed to know someone loved her, despite everything that had happened today. Needed a moment in which she felt safe.

A sudden realization jarred Chloe. She had felt safe earlier as well, when Chat was carrying her to Master Fu’s. When he had asked her if she was okay. When she had snapped at him and he’d let her have the silence she needed. She’d felt safe then, too. 

Chloe pushed that thought away from her mind and finally let go of her father. He put his hands on her shoulders, holding her away from him so he could see her face. “What happened to you, Chloe? I was so worried!”

Chloe leaned back on heels and spoke as casually as she could. “One of these creepy shadow things came after me.”

Her father gasped. “What? Are you okay?”

Chloe waved one hand in the air dismissively. “Of course. Ladybug totally showed up and saved me from the stupid thing.”

Chloe’s butler stepped forward and spoke then. She hadn’t even noticed he was there. “But then, what about the blood, mademoiselle?”

Chloe and her dad both stared at him. Chloe’s dad broke the silence first. “What are you talking about?”

The butler glanced once more at Chloe before turning to the Mayor. “I was just coming to tell. No less than three members of the staff saw Chloe sneaking up to her room with blood on her shirt just a few minutes ago.”

The mayor turned back to his daughter. “Chloe? Is this true? What happened?”

Chloe shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, well, I think Chat got cut while he was fighting the shadow creature. Then he grabbed me and pulled me out of the way and totally got blood on me! Gross! So that’s why I went upstairs before I came to talk to you. I had to get out of the bloody shirt, and I was totally soaked with rain anyway, because I had to run, like, super far the wrong direction when that thing was chasing me, and then Ladybug would not bring me home, so I had to walk here myself. Like I was a peasant.” She huffed. “So annoying.”

“That’s unacceptable!” Her father said angrily. “Ladybug should have made it a top priority to get my daughter home safely!” He stopped and sighed, his anger fading reluctantly. “But I suppose she was busy. I couldn’t even get the police to search for you because of the attack downtown.”

“Attack?” Chloe asked. “What attack?”

Her dad glanced at her before his eyes shifted away from her, his mind obviously somewhere else as he answered her. “Oh, there was apparently a massive attack. Something like thirty citizens being attacked by ten of those monsters. The police are all busy, cordoning off the area while Ladybug and Chat Noir fight them.”

Chloe stared at him. Seriously? Couldn’t her death be the most important thing to happen in Paris tonight? Or at least for like, two hours? Was that really so much to ask?

“Everyone’s a bit nervous because they’ve never fought that many before,” her dad continued, looking even more distracted now.

“It’s alright, Daddy,” Chloe said, not sure she could manage a reassuring voice right now and settling for a loud one instead. “Ladybug is like, the coolest thing since heels were invented. She can handle it. Even if that alley cat isn’t much good to her.” She said that last line much more quietly than the others. Her father didn’t quite agree with her opinions of Chat Noir.

Her dad made a distracted humming sound of agreement that made Chloe wonder if he’d heard any of it. “Of course. If you would excuse me, Chloe, I’ve got some things that I really must take care of.”

He walked away, obviously to take care of his duties as Mayor of Paris, duties he’d probably neglected while he was worried about her. Chloe was left with just her butler.

She looked at him curiously. “Did my chauffeur come back yet?” she asked in her bossiest, brattiest tone so he would know not to worry about her.

He shook his head. “No, Mademoiselle Chloe. He has not.”

Chloe snorted. “Coward.” He would probably never come back, not after he’d ditched her and left her to get attacked by that monster. Of course, since there were apparently a lot more monsters on the streets of Paris tonight than just the one who had killed her, there was also the possibility that while Chloe was the only person to become a were tonight, she was not the only person who had died tonight.

But if he was still alive, as the coward probably was, he wouldn’t dare come back to the hotel. He wouldn’t dare face the mayor after he’d abandoned his precious daughter like that.

Chloe headed towards the elevator so she could go back to her room. She paused for just a second to look back at her butler. “If he does come back, you should probably tell Daddy-kins to fire him.”

Then she hopped on the elevator and rode it back up so she could go to her room and finally do something about her hair.

Chloe stepped out of the elevator and walked to her room. She stepped inside and pulled her hair out its ponytail, shaking her hair out and running her fingers through it absentmindedly. She made a face when she got to the end of her hair and found a little blood still in it.

“Ugh. What good is all this rain if doesn’t even get all the blood off me?” Chloe glanced toward her window. “Did you hear me, rain? You’re useless. Useless!”

The rain didn’t answer her, which was good, because Chloe had already had a very strange, stressful day, and if the rain had started talking to her she probably would have lost it then and there. As it was, she was talking to the rain as if it was a person.

Chloe walked over to the mirror so she could see just how bad a condition her hair was in. Then she froze.

She remembered the first footage she’d ever seen of the monsters. She had thought the whole city had gone crazy. Why else would the reporters be taking footage of groups of people suddenly breaking into sprints and running around like they’d lost their minds and occasionally falling over for no reason?

Then some of the people had turned blue and gained fangs, and Chloe had started to worry that she was the one who had lost it.

But soon enough, the whole city knew about the shadow creatures. About how they attacked and bit and turned people, sometimes partially, sometimes completely. About how they didn’t show up in camera footage. No matter how good the camera was, it couldn’t catch the shadow creatures on video, or take a picture of them. The camera just showed whatever what was behind them, like they weren’t even there.

It was possible to see their victims, the ones who weren’t killed only to come back as one of them, the ones who were only partially turned, the ones Ladybug, and Ladybug alone, could cure.

But it wasn’t possible to see one of them. Not on camera.

And apparently not in a mirror, either, because Chloe couldn’t think of another reason why she no longer had a reflection.


	4. Chloe

When Chloe opened her eyes the next morning, she expected to still be on the floor of her room where she’d finally fallen asleep.

Failing that, she expected to be in her bed, where she had been moved by a meddling but well-intentioned staff member that she would spend the next several minutes complaining that.

But when she opened her eyes, she was not on her bedroom floor. She was not in bed. She wasn’t in her room at all, and she wasn’t even lying down.

Instead, she was crouching on the kitchen counter next to an open cupboard, an empty jar in her hand.

There was enough honey still on the sides of it to see that the jar had contained honey. But that didn’t seem quite as important as the holes in the glass did. The holes that were clearly teeth marks.

Not teeth marks, Chloe realized. Fang marks.

Chloe ran her tongue over her new fangs, noting as she did that her mouth tasted like honey, and she had this odd, contented feeling in her stomach.

Then she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head to see that she was not the only person in the kitchen.

Three of the kitchen’s staff were there, including the head chef. Two of them stared at her in shock. The other one was looking at the jar in her hand instead of her, but he didn’t seem to be any less shocked than the other two.

He was cooking, or burning, really, a frying pan full of food on one of the stove burners, a dish towel thrown over one of his shoulders. As Chloe watched, the dish towel fell off his shoulder into the food. One of the edges of the towel hung over, into the fire under the pan, and the towel caught fire. He didn’t appear to notice.

Okay, Chloe thought to herself. You’re a politician’s daughter. You know how to save face in any situation. You can do it in this one.

But if Chloe’s father had ever found himself in a position where he had to make everything seem normal after he’d sleep walked into the kitchen and sunk his brand-new fangs into a glass jar in front of his father’s employees, Chloe had not been there to see it. And her mind wasn’t really working that well, anyway. It was mostly just demanding more honey.

Which left Chloe with only one real option: to do what she did best.

But first, she really needed to get herself more honey so her brain would function, at least a little.

Chloe grabbed a second jar of honey out of the cupboard. Then she hopped off the counter to grab a spoon. She dropped the empty jar in the trash can and popped the lid off the full one. She dipped the spoon in and licked the honey off of it, locking eyes with the staff members.

“So, if any of you mention this to Daddykins, or anyone else for that matter, I will make your life a living hell. And I’m not just talking about your job.” She pointed the spoon at them like it was a weapon. “Capische?”

The head chef nodded slowly, her expression getting a little more controlled. The other two hesitated only a moment longer before they nodded too, so fast they looked like bobbleheads.

Chloe grinned at them. “Great.” She dipped her spoon back in. “Also, you’re going to need to start stocking a lot more honey. And you’re going to have to start sending it to my room every morning, preferably without anyone else noticing.”

An image flashed through her mind, a brief, hazy memory of her snarling at her butler so he’d get out of her way as she headed toward the kitchen. He’d taken one look at her fangs and jumped out of her way, flattening himself against the wall in terror.

“Actually, you can tell the butler,” Chloe said. “He already saw my fangs, so I guess he can know about the honey thing too. But other than that, no one else can know about any of this. Okay?”

They nodded again.

Chloe had always been good at getting what she wanted, but it really did seem easier with fangs.

Which was actually kind of unfortunate, because the general population couldn’t know that Chloe had fangs, which meant that Chloe couldn’t use her newfound weapon on most people, and that kind of sucked.

Though not as much as explaining why she suddenly had fangs to her father would.

Chloe marched out of the kitchen, taking her jar of honey with her.

She ran into the butler in the hall. He saw her and stiffened, but kept his facial expression controlled and professional and his voice polite. “Are you alright, Mademoiselle Chloe?”

Chloe nodded. “Just needed some honey.” She looked at him. “The kitchen is going to start stocking extra honey for me. It’s going to be your new job to make sure some of it gets to me every morning. Without Daddy or anyone else noticing.”

He nodded curtly, but she could tell he was still a little concerned.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be such a wimp. I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted honey.”

He shook his head. “It’s not that, mademoiselle. It’s just… are you sure you’re alright? All of these… new developments. Are they because of last night?”

Chloe glared at him. “Okay, I’m just going to say this once, so listen up. We are not going to talk about that. Ever again, you hear me?”

He nodded again. “Of course, mademoiselle.”

She marched past him, back to her room.

For a moment, she froze in the doorway as she survived the carnage in her bedroom. She hadn’t realized she’d done so much damage to it.

A potted plant lay broken on the floor close to the door. Everything that had been anywhere near the mirror in her room now lay on the floor near it, including a chair, lying on its side right below the vanity. Leaves and dirt and rain had blown into her room from the door to the balcony. She’d opened it last night when she’d gone out onto the balcony, and apparently, she’d forgotten to close it afterwards.

The mirror itself was shattered, pieces of it scattered all over the vanity. There had been fragments on the floor, too, and it took her a second to remember why they weren’t there now.

That was right. Chat Noir had come by last night after the big fight and he’d insisted on picking the glass off the floor while he was there so no one would get hurt.

Stupid, bleeding heart cat.

And then, after he’d cleaned up the glass, he’d revealed that he’d come by to ask her to stop by Master Fu’s just after dark tonight for a training session with the other new were.

Because apparently, on top of Chloe’s death not being the most important thing to happen in Paris for even two hours, she also hadn’t managed to be the newest were in Paris for even two hours either. That stupid Trixx Ladybug had ditched her to go after had chosen a new were when she saw the massive shadow creature attack.

Funny, how after months of Ladybug holding her own against the shadow creatures just fine, she suddenly needed help the very night that Chloe was turned into a were, and no one asked Chloe for said help.

Instead, they’d gotten some random other person to help her, as if anyone was better suited to be a hero of Paris than Chloe! She was the mayor’s daughter! She was tough, and strong, and she knew how to get what she wanted, so if she wanted to save Paris, then Paris would be saved! Why couldn’t any of these idiots see that? Why couldn’t Ladybug see that? She always seemed so smart, had saved Chloe more than once, and yet she didn’t realize instantly how helpful Chloe could be? What kind of cosmic joke was that?

Chloe broke out of her internal rant to go over to her closet. Sure, she’d died yesterday, but today, she had to go to school.

She wasn’t quite sure if she was going to do her hair or makeup well enough to avoid suspicion without a mirror. She could have called Sabrina and given some excuse to get her to do it, but her stupid phone was probably broken just because she’d chucked it off the balcony. Which was just ridiculous.

Chloe opened her closet and looked at her clothes. They all immediately changed colors.

She groaned out loud. “Seriously? How am I supposed to color coordinate anything if the colors keep changing!” She glanced back at her clothes. “You know what, universe? Joke’s on you. I’ve got everything in my closet memorized. I can figure out which colors match even if I’m seeing the wrong color, so I will look fabulous today. Do you hear me, universe? You should never mess with Chloe Bourgeois!”

She got dressed. Looking down at herself, the colors looked horrible together. Chloe really hoped she was remembering everything right, and the colors she’d put on matched properly.

Then she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. She’d done that enough times that she was pretty confident she could do that well even without seeing it, though it was annoying that she couldn’t even check in the mirror to see if she was right.

There wasn’t another way around the makeup. She was going to have to just bring her makeup bag to school and grab Sabrina before it started and make her do it.

Chloe took a deep breath to brace herself before she headed downstairs to go to school. She could do this. She could make it one day without anyone else finding out she now had fangs. She could keep everyone from noticing that she no longer had a reflection.

She could do it.

 

Chloe marched through school towards her class, Sabrina in tow, trying to ignore the other students’ loud, excited conversations.

“Did you hear about that fight last night? There were ten shadow creatures attacking at once!”

“Did you hear about that new hero that showed up? The fox girl? I heard she saved Ladybug’s life!”

“No way! Ladybug never needs saving!”

“But when the new hero transformed, there was all this light, right? Apparently it dazed Ladybug and Chat Noir and the shadows, but then more shadows showed up, and Ladybug couldn’t really fight, and then one of the shadows almost got her before the fox girl scratched its eyes with her claws!”

“I heard she mostly just yelled at them to stay away from Ladybug.”

“I heard she kicked one of them in the groin.”

“I didn’t even know they still had groins.”

“Does it count as saving someone if it’s your fault they were in danger in the first place?”

“It wasn’t really her fault. I mean, she took out the shadows that were there with them. They would have been fine if more hadn’t showed up, and they might not have been to take out that many by themselves anyway.”

Chloe gritted her teeth and tried her best to ignore them. But it was hard. Not only did someone else become a were before her, but then they had the nerve to learn how to transform before she did?

Chloe was so going to make this new were’s life miserable once she met them.

She stalked into class and took her seat, folding her arms across her chest and pouting. Sabrina sat down quietly next to her, not daring to ask Chloe what was wrong or why she’d had Sabrina do her makeup today.

Just like the butler hadn’t been brave enough to check on Chloe again, just because she’d thrown him something at him the first time. So what if she was going to throw something else at him? So what if she was going to metaphorically bite Sabrina’s head off if Sabrina said a word? Wasn’t making sure she was okay more important that? She really had expected more from them, the slackers.

She groaned and dropped her head onto her arms on the desk. What was she supposed to do with her life now? She couldn’t take pictures of herself because she didn’t show up in a camera any more than she did in the mirror. She couldn’t fuss over her hair or makeup because she didn’t have a reflection. And what was the point of shopping right now? The colors of everything kept switching constantly, and Chloe could only be sure what colors things really were if she’d seen them before, which made buying new clothes kind of pointless.

She could still text and stuff on her phone, once she got a new one, but that was hardly going to fill all the holes in her life her death and “rescue” had created.

“What’s the point?” Chloe snapped suddenly.

She didn’t realize she’d spoken out loud until Sabrina spoke. “The point of what, Chloe?” Sabrina asked timidly.

Chloe glared at her. Sabrina shrank back nervously into her seat.

Chloe had expected that. She hadn’t expected Sabrina to speak, her voice quiet as she continued to make herself as small as she could in her chair. “Are you okay, Chloe?”

Chloe huffed angrily and didn’t answer her. There was a brief moment of awkwardness before the teacher came into the room and started class.

Maybe Chloe would talk to Alya after class. If there was a new were in town, besides Chloe at least, it would be up on Alya’s blog. Maybe they’d have a picture of her or something. Maybe she was hideous. That would at least make it a little easier to forgive her for daring to fight alongside Ladybug, when clearly, that was Chloe’s job.

But class that day seemed to be longer than it normally was. Chloe could have sworn the clock stopped moving at one point, and there was no way the second hand normally moved that slowly.

The teacher droned on and on, and Chloe became more and more convinced that after surviving a shadow creature attack last night, the boredom was going to be the thing that killed her.

The worst part was that no one else in the class even seemed to notice. Marinette and Alya whispered to each other whenever the teacher wasn’t looking. Nino stared off into space, his eyes glazed over. He looked like he could have sat like that forever.

Adrien had his eyes fixed on the teacher, looking more attentive than anyone else in the class did, but Chloe knew him well enough to know he was daydreaming.

Beside her, Sabrina was scribbling madly, taking notes for both herself and Chloe. Behind them sat Mylene and Alix, taking notes like normal people. Behind them, Max was taking notes Chloe knew he didn’t need, meaning that he was only taking them so he could make Kim read them later, since Kim wasn’t paying attention to the lecture at all.

Behind them were Rose and Juleka. Juleka never had any problems paying attention, but Rose could normally be counted on to be the most bored person in class. But today she was writing something down on a sheet of paper, a stupid, dreamy look on her face.

The only other two students in the class were Ivan and Nathanael, both of whom had their own desks. Ivan because he was so big, Nathanael because he was such a loner. Ivan was drumming his fingers on the desk, tapping out the rhythm of a song. The loser was probably writing another gross, sappy love song for Mylene or something.

Nathanael was sitting so that Ivan was blocking the teacher’s view of him. He always did that, so that he could either sleep or draw in class. Today, he was sleeping, so the time was probably flying by for him.

It was all Chloe could do to stop herself from groaning out loud. How was no one else noticing that this had to be the longest, most boring class period of all time.

But even the most boring of class periods had to end eventually, and when lunch started, Chloe finally saw her chance to talk to Alya without stupid Marinette around, which was a huge plus.

She stepped in front of Alya as Alya moved towards the door after Marinette had sprinted out of it, crying for some reason that Chloe had nothing to do with and therefore didn’t care about. “What’s this I hear about some new hero on the streets of Paris?”

Alya gritted her teeth. “Get out of my way, Chloe. I don’t have time to talk to you right now! I need to talk to Marinette!”

She tried to step around Chloe. Chloe stepped in her way again.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. There’s no way you of all people don’t know about this new fox girl or whatever she is. Just tell me what you know about her already.”

Alya sucked in a breath, murder in her eyes. “She’s just some new fox hero who showed up last night, helped Ladybug and Chat Noir out. It’s not a big deal. Ladybug is still the hero of Paris, and Chat Noir is still her partner. Now there’s just one more person to help them protect Paris, that’s all.”

Adrien and Nino brushed by Chloe and headed out of the classroom. The rest of the class were recovering from the surprise of Chloe’s actions as well, heading out of the class themselves.

“But wasn’t the last fox hero, like, evil or something?” Chloe asked Alya.

“Yeah, well, the new one’s not,” Alya snapped as she lost patience, pushing past Chloe and running out of the classroom.

“Ugh. Well, that wasn’t helpful at all,” Chloe remarked, looking down at her nails.

Sabrina nodded in agreement.

Chloe moved to open the door to go out herself. As she did, she noticed a faint reflection in the glass window in the door. The reflection showed Sabrina, who was standing directly behind her.

Chloe jerked backwards in surprise. Surprised that she had actually noticed the lack of her reflection when the reflection that was there was so faint, surprised that it bothered her so much when it wasn’t like she was intentionally looking for her own reflection and unable to see it.

“What’s the matter, Chloe?” Sabrina asked, sounding a little panicked.

Chloe huffed at her. “Oh, just open the door for me already, Sabrina,” she said, refusing to let how shaken she was show. After all, it wasn’t like anyone would have noticed that faint, momentary lack of her reflection.

Even though she knew how unlikely it was, Chloe’s eyes moved automatically to the only student of the few remaining in the classroom who had been close enough to the door and at the right angle to see the window, to see Chloe’s lack of a reflection, even though she knew there was no way he could have noticed it.

She looked at that one student, and her heart plummeted into her stomach.

Nathanael was staring at her, teal eyes wide with horror. He was staring at her like he’d seen a ghost. As she watched, his eyes flicked from her to the window and then back to her.

Well, that was suspicious, but it wasn’t really a guarantee he’d seen it. Maybe he’d only just realized how beautiful she was. Maybe that was why he was looking at her like that.

His eyes dropped down to her mouth. It wasn’t until that moment that Chloe realized she’d gasped when she’d seen the window, and then had not completely closed her mouth afterwards, so that someone who was looking at her mouth closely might just be able to see her fangs.

Chloe clamped her mouth shut. Nathanael kept staring at it anyway.

Sabrina spoke, and Chloe realized she was just standing there, holding the door open for Chloe. “Chloe? Are we gonna leave or…?” Her voice trailed off as she realized Chloe was ignoring her.

Chloe kept her eyes locked on Nathanael.

Maybe, she thought to herself hopefully, he didn’t see the fangs. Maybe he was staring at her mouth because he thought her lips were pretty.

That was reasonable, right? Her lips were incredibly pretty.

Nathanael turned around and sprinted out the classroom door that Sabrina was still holding open, screaming at the top of his lungs as he went.

Chloe sighed heavily. He had definitely seen the fangs.


	5. Adrien

Adrien’s head was killing him.

He supposed that shouldn’t come as a surprise. He had gotten hit in the head pretty hard this morning, and then getting suspended upside down, even for a short time, immediately afterwards probably hadn’t helped.

He was indescribably relieved when class was over and it was finally lunchtime, but then Marinette went flying out of the room, tears rolling down on her face. Alya started to go after her, but Chloe get in the way, asking about the new were-fox. From her tone, Adrien guessed that she’d already decided she didn’t like the girl.

Which was going to make the meeting after school today that much worse, as if it wasn’t already going to be bad enough. As if today wasn’t bad enough. Or yesterday, for that matter.

Adrien brushed past Chloe and walked out of the classroom. He wanted to go after Marinette, more than anything, but after what had happened this morning, he didn’t think he should.

He thought back to before school, when everything about today had gone horribly, horribly, wrong.

 

Adrien was just standing on the steps in front of the school, talking to Nino and trying hard not to think about Chloe dying, or about the new were-fox that had shown up. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to act anything like a normal school kid if he thought about any of that stuff, about how close he and his Lady had come to dying.

He’d just started to relax, just started to laugh and mean it as he chatted with Nino, when he heard a startled shriek from the corner.

He looked over to see that Marinette had tripped on the street corner, and she had apparently been shoving a book into her bag when it happened, because she still had a book in her hand and her bag was open, spilling everything all over the sidewalk.

Adrien ran towards her. She was making a pouty face as she started to pick up her stuff. Adrien knelt down and started helping her, and the pouty face went away immediately when she saw him.

The bell rang and the other students started heading inside, except for Nino and Alya, who were both standing there at the bottom of the steps, watching him help Marinette but not coming over themselves. For some reason, Alya was giggling, which was a little weird.

“Are you okay, there, Marinette?” Adrien asked.

She nodded and stammered something that was, in all honesty, a lot of gibberish. Adrien didn’t have a clue what she was saying, except that the first word sounded more like a yes than a no.

She was blushing bright red, too. She must have been really embarrassed about falling.

“Well, we should probably head…” Adrien started to say, but then he glanced down the street and stopped mid-sentence, eyes wide.

Marinette turned to look herself and then she gasped in surprise and horror.

Because the person walking down the street was Lila Rossi, and she was being followed by no less than six partially transformed humans.

Adrien had seen them during the day before, of course. While the fully turned shadow creatures were unable to come out in daylight, the possessed humans could, just as easily as a normal human.

But it didn’t happen very often. They were always turned at night, since that was when the shadows were able to find and turn regular humans, and they typically couldn’t wait to start attacking people, particularly anyone they were already upset with. They would usually head straight for anyone they had reason to be mad at, attacking everyone they ran into on the way until Chat Noir and Ladybug stopped them.

There were exceptions to the rule, of course. The possessed humans usually retained some of their own personality traits, though they were always loyal to Papillion, and sometimes those traits caused them to wait until the next day to reveal themselves. When Alya had been possessed, she’d waited until other possessed humans had attacked, drawing Ladybug and Chat Noir out before she’d launched her own sneak attack. Her intelligence had lasted through her possession, and beating her had been a pain.

Then there was Nathanael, whose lack of aggression had caused him not to attack, at least at first. He’d shown up to school like normal, his skin the dark blue color of a possessed human, convinced that Papillion should be ruling Paris, but not willing to attack anyone over it. Ladybug and Chat Noir had shown up, and he’d simply run away from them, and they couldn’t quite catch him. He might never have been cured, except that he’d been mad at Chloe at the time, and that had eventually caused him to lose control and attack her, and then he’d fought back when Chat and Ladybug got in his way, which made curing him significantly easier.

Ivan had been one of the earliest possessed humans, and he had evaded capture the night he was transformed. He’d come to school the next day to go after Kim and had attacked the entire class while he was at it, though his feelings for Mylene had prevented him from hurting her.

But those were all times when one or two possessed humans had waited until the day after they were turned to attack. Adrien had never seen so many of them together before, especially not during the day.

And he’d thought Lila Rossi had left Paris after Ladybug successfully separated her and Trixx, making it so Lila could no longer turn into Volpina.

But here she was again, and since she was bringing some of Papillion’s puppets with her, it probably wasn’t to apologize.

Lila stopped on the curb on the other side of the street, the possessed humans falling in behind her, her eyes fixed on Adrien.

She’d been after him last time too, so that wasn’t new.

Adrien met Lila’s eyes and smiled nervously. “Lila. So nice to see you again. What brings you here?”

Lila’s eyes narrowed. “Last time I checked, I was still a student here. Besides, I wanted to see you, Adrien. I missed you. Didn’t you miss me?”

Adrien swallowed. “Well, you did try to kill me, so no, not really.”

“What?” Adrien heard Nino ask from over by the stairs. Adrien hadn’t exactly told him everything that had happened with Lila, but the cat was out of the bag now.

Lila bared her teeth at him in what might have looked like a smile if there had been just a little less murderous intent in her eyes. “That wasn’t my fault. I was possessed. Would you hold someone accountable for what they did when they were possessed? And besides, I didn’t actually try to kill you, you know. It was just an illusion.”

“Right.” Adrien glanced down the street, wondering if he’d be able to get away from the college fast enough to get out of their sight long enough to transform. Probably not. He’d just have to hope Ladybug showed up soon. “And all these possessed people you brought with you? Are they just illusions too?”

She pouted. “Didn’t you hear, Adrien? That horrible, viscous Ladybug stole my powers from me.”

Chat would have made a joke about how Ladybug had simply outfoxed her. Adrien wanted to make that joke himself, but he forced himself not to make the pun. The last thing was for Lila to get another hint about his secret identity. “I wouldn’t see she stole them. I’d say she grounded you. For really bad behavior. And I hate to say this, Lila, but Ladybug did the right thing.”

Lila snarled at him. “I would have been a hero if she had given me half a chance! She hated me from the first moment. I got possessed, and it was her fault.”

Beside him, Marinette made a squeaking sound like a mouse being trodden on, drawing Lila’s attention.

Lila’s eyes flicked from her face to her hand, and Adrien realized with a start that he hadn’t let go of Marinette’s hand yet.

He let go of her hand like her skin burned him, but it was too late.

Lila fixed her eyes on Marinette, the murderous intent in her eyes doubling. To Adrien’s shock, Marinette glared back at her, a glare that was much, much scarier than Adrien would have expected from such a sweet girl. She’d glared at him before, when they first met, but not like that. He hadn’t even seen her glare at Chloe like that. “You stay away from Adrien,” she growled, her voice so low and dangerous it sent shivers down Adrien’s spine.

“So, you’re the reason he never liked me back,” Lila said, looking Marinette up and down.

Adrien felt his face heat up. He raised his hands placatingly. “It’s not…”

Lila’s eyes met Marinette’s again and Lila gasped, her eyes widening. “You!” she said, and her voice held a world of meaning that Adrien didn’t understand.

But Marinette clearly did. Her own eyes widened, her hands flying up in front of her mouth as she gasped and fell back a step.

Lila’s lips stretched into a wide smile. “And to think, I just came here to get Ladybug’s little boyfriend.”

“I’m not… “ Adrien started to say.

Lila cut him off. “And instead, I find you. And almost all the other students are inside the school, so there isn’t even anyone to get in my way. How convenient.”

Marinette spoke then, her voice tight. “You should leave before you get hurt, Lila. You don’t have powers anymore. Ladybug made sure of that.”

Lila’s smile widened even more. “Third person, huh? Well, despite everything Ladybug did to me, I did keep one ability. One very handy illusion.”

And with that, Lila’s skin turned blue.

Adrien sucked in a sharp breath. She was possessed. She was possessed, and she had been able to make it look like she wasn’t possessed. Just like last time.

Lila stepped toward Marinette, and that was it for Adrien.

He grabbed Marinette’s hand again and ran, dragging Marinette behind him as he sprinted away from Lila and the other possessed humans. Marinette seemed to be in a state of shock, running after him in a daze. Adrien had to pull on her arm a lot harder than he wanted to.

Their sudden departure must have surprised by Lila, because there was a momentary pause before he heard the sound of Lila and the others chasing after them.

“Post on the Ladyblog!” Adrien yelled as he ran past Alya and Nino. “Tell Ladybug to come help us!”

He didn’t look back to see if they nodded. He didn’t hear them answer him, either, but he knew they would do it.

In the meantime, he just had to outrun Lila and her, for lack of a better term, henchmen.

He knew he could do it. He was a were after all, and even untransformed, Adrien was a little faster and stronger than a normal human. He always had to be careful during anything athletic, to keep that hidden so that no one would get suspicious.

But he had Marinette with him, and she was going to slow him down…

Except that she wasn’t, Adrien realized suddenly. She’d finally started running for real, and even though Adrien was pretty sure he was running a little faster than he should have been, she was keeping up with him. Mostly, at least. He did have an advantage on her beyond being a were, since his legs were quite a bit longer than hers.

Adrien couldn’t help but be impressed at how fast she was. It must be all that running she did when she was running late to things.

He wasn’t really paying attention to where he was running. He didn’t start paying attention until they got to the Pont des Arts, where two more possessed humans were walking towards them from the other side of the bridge.

Adrien stopped so fast Marinette ran into him as she tried to stop, not wanting them to trap them on the bridge with possessed people on either side of them.

But Lila was close behind them, and while Adrien had prevented them from being trapped on the bridge itself, they still didn’t have anywhere else.

He turned and watched as Lila slowed her run to a walk, smirking like she’d done something much more impressive than corner two civilian kids.

Not that Adrien was a civilian, but Lila didn’t know that.

Adrien had expected Lila’s eyes to be on him, but they were locked on Marinette instead.

Marinette froze all over again as Lila grinned at her, her expression predatory. Adrien couldn’t help but wonder where Marinette’s earlier courage had gone. She had seemed so brave at the school, and then one word from Lila had her acting like a scared little kid.

“What do you think, Marinette? Should we bring you and Adrien with us? Take you both to the Lord of Shadows, let him transform you?” Lila asked.

All the blood drained out of Marinette’s face. Her hand tightened around Adrien’s, her grip surprisingly strong. And painful.

Lila kept talking. “Or should we just kill you? Leave you here, and just take Adrien with us.”

Adrien couldn’t stop the growl that rose in his chest at the threat. “Don’t you dare.”

She ignored him, her eyes still locked on Marinette. “What do you think, Marinette? Would you rather be a body for your parents to cry over, or would you rather be another dark angel, bringing the city under the control of its rightful ruler?”

Blood roared in Adrien’s ears. He’d seen people act surprisingly like themselves before, but never on this level. Lila was acting exactly like herself, just like she had last time. Adrien couldn’t see what else it could mean, except that, like last time, Lila had retained her will when she’d been possessed, and the changes had just been physical. That like last time, Lila didn’t require any force to side with Papillion.

Behind him, he could hear the other two possessed humans walking towards them, getting way too close for comfort.

Marinette released her grip on Adrien’s hand, stepping in front of him. Adrien grabbed her arm to keep her from moving any closer to Lila, which she ignored completely. “You’re not going to touch him,” Marinette said, her voice barely louder than a whisper, broken and hopeless but somehow, still sure. “I won’t let you.”

Lila smirked again. “You don’t have a choice.” She stepped forward, towards Marinette, her eyes glittering hungrily.

Then something came flying in out of nowhere, hitting Lila so hard in the head Lila stumbled a couple of steps sideways.

The object that had hit her fell to the ground, and Adrien stared at it incredulously.

It was a shoe.

They all looked sideways, in the direction the shoe had come from. There stood a girl, with wild, orange, white tipped hair, orange markings similar but not identical to the ones Ladybug and Chat Noir had, large orange and black ears, claws, and a fluff orange and white tail.

The new were-fox, the one that had replaced Volpina.

Lila snarled at her. “I see Trixx found herself a new host. Tell me, how does it feel to be her second choice?”

The were-fox smirked. “Believe me girl, I am no one’s second choice.”

She lunged forward without warning and with incredible speed towards Lila. Possessed humans were generally stronger and faster than normal humans, and could often fly, which was annoying, but Lila barely had time to yelp before the were-fox slammed into her.

Lila struggled under the were-fox but was out of her league. “Get them! Get Marinette!” she screamed at the other possessed people.

“Over my dead body!” the were-fox roared with even more ferocity than she’d showed last night when she’d rescued Ladybug. She tossed Lila aside like so much garbage and threw herself forward, in between Marinette and the monsters, using herself as a half-human shield, swiping and clawing at anyone who dared to approach Marinette.

Marinette stared at the were-fox in front of her, her expression unreadable.

“Get her out of here!” the were-fox snapped at Adrien.

Adrien ran obediently, pulling Marinette with him. Lila tried to follow them, but the were-fox kicked her in the stomach and she went down again.

Two of the possessed humans leaped suddenly towards the were-fox, giving the others a chance to run after Adrien and Marinette.

Adrien rounded the nearest corner, shoving Marinette into the open window of some random building. Then he kept running, the possessed humans chasing after him, passing Marinette’s hiding spot without giving it a second glance.

He sprinted down the street, managing to stay ahead of them for about a minute before one of them tackled him. Adrien’s head smacked so hard into the ground, he could have sworn he saw stars.

The possessed person grinned at him. “You’re going to come with us, to meet the Lord of Shadows,” he said. The other possessed people drew closer as his grip tightened on Adrien’s arms.

Adrien felt pretty dazed. He blinked hard, as if that would clear up his head. “That’s still the stupidest name I’ve heard. He’s clearly a butterfly.”

The possessed guy snarled at Adrien, his grip tightening. Adrien yelped in pain and kicked the guy as hard as he could, successfully knocking him away from him.

All four of the possessed people moved toward him, trying to grab him again, but they didn’t get a chance.

Something wrapped around his ankle, pulling him away from the people attacking them and into the air, until he was dangling upside down from a streetlight, a red chain so thin it was almost a string wrapped around his leg.

Adrien probably would have screamed like a little girl when he found himself flying through the air if he hadn’t been so used to it.

Ladybug flew in from behind him. She must have been angry, because Adrien had never seen her work so fast. She slammed into the group, knocking each of them unconscious with record speed, and then releasing a swarm of bubbles that latched onto the possessed humans vanished in a flash of pink light, curing them. Their skin turned back to normal colors.

Adrien hadn’t even gotten a chance to sneak away and transform into Chat Noir. Which was okay, because Chat’s destructive powers was really geared towards fighting fully transformed shadow creatures, injuring them enough to send them back to Papillion.

Ladybug’s powers were meant to inflict minimal damage, to bring possessed humans to a stop so that she could cure them. This what she was meant for.

“Ladybug!” Adrien called out. “By the Pont des Arts! The new fox girl is fighting Lila and some other possessed humans!”

“Not any more she’s not,” a strong voice called out. The were-fox walked around the corner, carrying an unconscious Lila and the other two humans on her shoulders. She laid them down at Ladybug’s feet and stepped back.

Adrien watched nervously, braced for a repeat of what had happened last night, for Ladybug’s control to crack again, to release a mountain of cold fury at Trixx and her new partner, at the new were-fox for daring to exist.

Ladybug nodded slowly, her expression unreadable, and knelt to cure them.

She cure the two easily enough, but Lila didn’t change when the bubbles disappeared. Ladybug heaved a sigh. “I guess she doesn’t want to be cured. But we can’t let her go. I guess I’ll have to take her to Master Fu. Figure out what I’m going to do about her there.”

The new were put her hand hesitantly on Ladybug’s shoulder. “You mean, what we’re going to do about her. You’re not alone, girl.”

Ladybug nodded slowly and let Adrien down. “You should go back to school,” she said, not looking at him.

Adrien nodded in agreement. He needed to check on Marinette anyway.

But Marinette hadn’t been where he left her. He’d finally gone back to school without her, hoping that she’d headed back on her own, and she had shown up eventually, but she’d been upset and out of it.

Alya had tried to get her to talk to her about it. Adrien had her ask at least five times during class, but Marinette refused to say exactly why Lila’s words had upset her so much. Alya had kept pressing her, obviously upset and worried, but Marinette had sprinted out of class the second it was over, tears streaming down her face and obviously not wanting to talk to anyone.

Alya had gone after her anyway, once she’d managed to get around Chloe.

“Are you okay, dude?” Nino asked, snapping Adrien out of his reverie as they walked out of the classroom.

Adrien nodded and smiled as convincingly as he could. “Of course.”

Nino just raised his eyebrows at him. Apparently, Adrien had not been very convincing.

“I’m fine,” Adrien insisted. “This morning wasn’t great, but at least I’m in better shape than Marinette seems to be.”

Nino nodded in agreement. “Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her that upset about something.”

Adrien had never seen her that upset. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of thing could make Marinette look the way she had, and he really had no idea what Lila had been talking about.

He opened his mouth to ask Nino what had upset her so much last time, hoping that it might give him a better idea of what was going on and how he could help her, but he was interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice screaming, yelling words that startled him less because of what they were and more because he wouldn’t have expected anyone in this school to feel the need to say them, let alone scream them so the whole school would hear.

“She’s a monster! She’s a monster! Chloe’s a monster!”

Nino looked as surprised to hear those words as Adrien felt. "Well, duh," he said.


	6. Chloe

Chloe had noticed it before, more times than she could count, but she had never really thought about it before.

He didn’t speak often, but when Nathanael did speak, he usually had no trouble sounding assertive. He also usually had no problem being loud, if that was what he wanted.

Chloe had never cared about just how loud Nathanael was capable of being before. Most likely, that was because she had never cared about what he was saying before. It had never occurred to her that Nathanael’s ability to be shockingly loud could ever be a problem.

But as he ran away from her, the words he was screaming made it incredibly clear to her how very, very wrong she’d been in never worrying about the volume that boy was capable of.

“She’s a monster! She’s a monster! Chloe’s a monster!”

Chloe’s brain took a second to process the words he was saying. Then she kicked off her heels, trusting Sabrina to grab them for her, and sprinted after him. She was in so much trouble if he got any more explicit than that. If he said something about her fangs, if he made a comparison between her and the shadow creatures, if the whole school found out what had happened to Chloe…. She didn’t even want to think about it.

Nathanael was sprinting down the stairs. Adrien and Nino stood at the bottom of them. Nino was frowning at Nathanael. Adrien was frowning at Nino. “Don’t you think that’s a little bit of an exaggeration?”

Nathanael screamed again as he leaped down the last few steps. “Chloe’s a monster and she’s going to kill me!”

Chloe started down the stairs, yelling at the top of her lungs, hoping to cut him off before he said anything more damaging. “Nathanael Kutzberg! Get back here!”

Adrien looked at Chloe and his eyes widened. “Or maybe not.”

Nathanael ran for the front of the school. “She’s going to kill me! Somebody help me! She’s going to eat me alive!”

“Kutzberg!” Chloe yelled again.

Nino looked at Chloe as she ran past him and his eyes widened just like Adrien’s had. “Oh, man.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted after Nathanael. “She looks really mad, dude! Run faster!”

Nathanael wailed loudly but wordlessly at that.

“I’ve never seen Chloe that mad before,” Kim said.

Rose managed to actually raise her voice to a loud volume for once. “Run, Nath, run!”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Nathanael howled as he burst out the front door. 

Chloe ran after him, relieved that none of the other students seemed to realize how serious he was being.

“Wow. Chloe’s way faster than I’d thought she’d be,” Alix said as Chloe ran past her.

The next voice was Max’s. “At their current speeds, Chloe will catch him in approximately…”

She pushed the door open. As it closed behind her, she heard Adrien call after her. “Take it easy on him, Chloe! Whatever he did, I’m sure he didn’t mean it!”

Nathanael rounded the corner, screaming about Chloe’s murderous intentions. He got a few weird looks, but no one out on the street seemed to take him any more seriously than their classmates or the other students had.

She followed him, feet slapping against the pavement as she ran barefoot down the street for the second time in two days.

At least this time, she wasn’t the one being chased.

Nathanael was pretty fast, she had to give him that, but Chloe was starting to realize that fangs, a lost reflection, and the inability to show up in pictures were not the only changes her body had undergone from that shadow creature’s bite. She could feel it as she ran. She knew she could run much, much faster than this. At this speed, Chloe was pretty sure that she could run forever.

She was also pretty certain that this was from the shadow bite, not from the whole were thing. She didn’t know what made her feel that way, but she felt pretty sure about it.

Come on Nathanael, she thought to herself. Run somewhere there aren’t people around so I can catch up to you and end this stupid chase without anyone else figuring out my secret.

“Somebody help, she’s going to kill me!” Nathanael yelled. His voice wasn’t as loud now because he was panting pretty hard, but that didn’t change the fact that he still hadn’t stopped screaming.

“Oh, just shut up already!” Chloe yelled back at him. “And stop running! Take it like a man!”

“No!” There was that assertive tone he got sometimes, coming out again. “I don’t want to die like a man!”

He turned again, heading straight for a park.

Chloe picked up the speed a little. Not enough to make the people around them suspicious, but enough so that as soon as Nathanael cut onto the grass, Chloe was close enough to tackle him.

Nathanael made an undignified shrieking sound as she slammed into him. They both hit the ground, Chloe landing on top of him.

Nathanael managed to turn over so that he was looking up at her. He waved his arms frantically to try and keep Chloe away from him, his hands smacking Chloe repeatedly in the face.

“Stop it! Stop it!” Chloe ordered him. It wasn’t like it hurt, but it was incredibly annoying.

Nathanael didn’t listen. Chloe huffed impatiently and grabbed both of Nathanael’s wrists to make him stop. “Stop it,” she said again, putting extra annoyance into her voice so he’d know she was serious.

He tried to pull away from her, but Chloe seemed to be stronger than him now, and he couldn’t break free. He turned his head to the side so his bangs fell in front of both of his eyes instead of just one, screwing his eyes shut tight, like not being able to see Chloe would somehow make the situation change.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Nathanael said, his mouth running a thousand miles together, his words blurring together as he vomited them out desperately. “Please don’t kill me, I have so much left to draw. I don’t even have a good sketch of the Eiffel tower yet! I always meant to, but I always thought I’d get it to it later, and it always seemed so touristy, you know?”

Chloe raised her eyebrows at him. He really thought he was about to die and his first thought was to worry about his art? Seriously? This kid’s priorities were totally mixed-up.

Nathanael kept rambling on. “Plus, there are like, people who would miss me, and you know what? The last time I went to the doctor, he said I was anemic, so you shouldn’t even want to drink my blood, because it’s probably super disgusting, and…”

Chloe made a face that he couldn’t see and cut him off. “Ew. I’m not going to drink your blood. That’s gross. It would be gross even if you weren’t anemic. And I’m not going to kill you. I just wanted you to stop screaming.”

Nathanael turned his head to stare up at her, teal eyes wide. “You’re not going to kill me?”

Chloe huffed and let go of his wrists and pushed herself off of him, taking a seat beside him on the grass. “Of course not. Especially not in public. Do you think I’m stupid or something?” She looked down at her pants. “Great. Now I’ve got grass stains on my knees, and it’s all your fault. Do these pants look they go with grass stains to you, Nathanael?”

Nathanael sat up slowly, still staring at her incredulously. “You’re really not going to kill me, or hurt me, or… something?”

Chloe snorted. “Please. I’m not going to do anything to you as long as you keep your mouth shut about what you saw.”

“About you being a vampire, you mean?” Nathanael asked.

“I’m not…” Chloe started to say. Then she stopped herself. She didn’t have a reflection. She did have fangs. That was pretty vampire-ish. And while she had an appetite for honey instead of blood, that didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t a vampire, right? She could be a honey vampire or something. That seemed like it was probably a thing.

And besides, if she told Nathanael she didn’t drink blood, if she told him she wasn’t as dangerous as he thought she was, didn’t that make him more likely to spill her secret? If he thought he was going to die if he told, he would definitely keep quiet. “Yeah,” Chloe said slowly. “If you don’t tell anyone about that, I’m not going to kill you.”

She didn’t say she would kill him if he did tell, so she wasn’t even lying. She was just letting him assume things.

Chloe waited for Nathanael to nod vigorously and promise he wouldn’t tell anyone, possibly throwing in some praises for her benevolence and mercy.

Instead, he just stared at her like she was insane. “I’m not going to tell anyone. If I tell people you’re a vampire, they’ll probably just think I’m crazy.”

Chloe gave him a look. “You ran through school screaming about me being a monster.”

He looked down. “I was panicking. I wasn’t thinking clearly. It doesn’t matter. No one believed me anyway.”

“Lucky for you,” Chloe said. She inspected her nails. “My nail polish didn’t even chip. Finally, some good news.”

Nathanael stared at her incredulously. “Are all vampires so…?” his voice trailed off.

“So what?” Chloe asked. “Beautiful? I’m totally the prettiest.”

After all, if she was a vampire, that meant the shadow creatures were vampires too, right? And Chloe was way prettier than them.

Nathanael shook his head slightly. “Vain. I mean, why do you care so much what you look like? You can’t even see yourself in a mirror.”

Chloe groaned out loud. “Tell me about it. I had to get Sabrina to do my makeup for me today, and I’m sure its sub-par.”

Nathanael stiffened, his eyes widening again. “You’ve only been a vampire for one day?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. Then she froze. Maybe telling him that wasn’t the best idea. Oh well. Too late to do anything about it now.

“How… how did it even happen?” Nathanael asked, looking like he was having trouble processing that.

Chloe scowled at him. “None of your business.”

He shrank under her glare. “Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just keep your mouth shut about all of this, alright? No more telling people I’m a monster, no more running away from me screaming. Just act like everything’s normal, got it?”

He nodded mutely.

She pushed herself off the ground and started to walk away when Nathanael spoke again. “Does Sabrina know?”

Chloe stopped walking to glare at him again. “What?”

“Does Sabrina know?” Nathanael asked again. “Does your dad know? Does anyone know? Becoming a vampire, that has to be a huge adjustment. Does anyone know what you’re going through? Is there anyone to help you?”

For a second, Chloe just stared at him. Then she caught herself and turned away with a scoffing sound. “As if. I don’t need any help.”

She marched away from him determinedly, head held high.

To her surprise, Nathanael hurried after her, falling into step beside her. He didn’t say anything to her, just walked next to her as they headed back the way they’d come.

Chloe stepped off the grass and onto the pavement. “Ew. My feet are going to get even dirtier, and it’s all your fault. I totally had to ditch my shoes to come after you and convince you to keep your mouth shut.”

“I’m… sorry?” Nathanael said, but he wasn’t very convincing.

Then Chloe had a fabulous idea. “Well, if you’re really sorry, I know how you can make it up to me,” she said, leaning towards him.

Nathanael stared at her suspiciously, leaning back a little. “What?”

Chloe grabbed Nathanael’s shoulders and threw her legs into the air. “Catch me!”

He caught her, though it seemed to be reflexive more than obedience.

“Now, carry me back to school!” Chloe ordered.

Nathanael stared at her for a moment as he held her princess style in his arms, obviously taken aback. Then he sighed heavily and started walking again, heading toward the school.

About halfway back, they ran into Sabrina, who was walking down the street with Chloe’s shoes, clearly looking for her.

Chloe kicked her legs so Nathanael would drop her and lunged for Sabrina. “My shoes!” She grabbed the shoes out of Sabrina’s hands and tugged them impatiently onto her feet. “Finally! I hate having to walk on the street without shoes on.”

“You say that like it’s something you have to do a lot,” Nathanael said.

Chloe glared at him and he fell back a step. “Whatever.” She turned back to her best friend. “Let’s go, Sabrina. We’ve got better things to do than hang out with this loser.” She turned and started walking away, Sabrina following her obediently.

“What?” Nathanael said behind her, sounding both surprised and insulted. Chloe couldn’t imagine why. She had just been stating the facts.

She marched off with Sabrina in tow, not bothering to check whether Nathanael was still heading back to the school or not. As long as he kept her secret, it really didn’t matter what else he did or didn’t do, at least as far as Chloe was concerned.

Now, all she had to do was make sure no one else found out her secret until she got to the training session tonight and then the brilliant, beautiful Ladybug could help her come up with a better way to keep the whole vampire thing under wraps.

How hard could it be?

 

Chloe groaned loudly and flopped onto her bed. “Why?” she said out loud. “Why couldn’t Sabrina go one day without snapping a selfie of us together? Why didn’t I remember to tell her I didn’t want any pictures of me today? Why can’t I just show up in a freakin’ photo like a normal person?”

She grabbed her pillow and screamed into it. Sabrina had snapped that photo before Chloe had even realized what she was doing. Then she’d immediately assumed her phone’s camera was busted and had started talking about getting it fixed, which sounded like a good way for even more people to have a chance to figure out Chloe’s secret.

So Chloe had dragged her to the bathroom, and after checking to make sure no one was in the bathroom or within earshot of it, had explained to Sabrina that she was now a vampire.

It had taken some doing to convince her that Chloe was being serious, but at least she hadn’t had to threaten Sabrina to keep her mouth shut. Sabrina had promised to keep Chloe’s secret readily enough, though Chloe hadn’t ever wanted to give Sabrina that kind of power and didn’t exactly trust her with it. But Sabrina hadn’t sprinted out of the school screaming and made Chloe chase her like Nathanael had, so that was good at least.

Chloe was pretty sure that if Sabrina had run out of the school screaming about Chloe being a monster, Chloe would have just set the school on fire instead of chasing after her. Or rented a wrecking ball and knocked it down so that her Daddykins would have to transfer her to a different school. Except that renting wrecking balls sounded like something a peasant would do. Chloe would probably just buy one. Her dad would probably assume it was some phase that all teenage girls went through where they all just really wanted to own a wrecking ball.

Fortunately, Sabrina had not run away, so Chloe didn’t have to find out what her dad would think about a wrecking ball purchase.

But that didn’t fix that fact that Chloe had been a vampire for less than twenty-four hours, and she had already managed to get discovered by five people who weren’t supposed to know she was a vampire, five people who hadn’t even tried to figure her secret out.

Chloe moaned. “Ladybug is going to think I’m such a failure! She’s going to be so mad at me. The universe hates me! Stupid universe. Stupid mirrors. Stupid cameras. Stupid person who invented cameras. I take back everything I ever said about you! You are not brilliant or wonderful, you are stupid and vindictive and evil and I hope you die!” She paused for a moment. “Except that cameras have been around for like ever, so you’re probably already dead. Whatever. I hope you die again because you suck!”

That didn’t vent her frustration at all. She grabbed her pillow and screamed into it. Her fangs ripped through it and the next thing Chloe knew it, she was completely covered in feathers.

Chloe spat out feathers and folded her arms over her chest, putting on a pout that would have gotten anyone to give her whatever she wanted, if she wasn’t alone in her bedroom. “Yeah, I should have seen that coming.” She huffed. “Whoever invented pillows needs to die too. Actually, I think they might be dead too. Pillows have been around for a while, right? Yeah, they’re probably already dead. The nerve!” She glanced at the feathers spread over her bed. “Or maybe just the person who made these pillows. Would it have killed them to make them sturdier? Ugh. This sucks. I don’t want be a vampire anymore!”

But as good as Chloe normally was about getting what she wanted, this wasn’t something she could whine or manipulate or even beg her way out of, and Chloe didn’t beg. But she would have begged her way out of this one if she could, only there was no one to beg to. No one to whine at or to trick into giving Chloe her way. No one could fix the damage that had been done, and there was nothing that Chloe could do about it.

Chloe was completely and utterly helpless. She was never this helpless, at least not since her…

Chloe shoved that poisonous thought away, shutting it back behind the metaphorical black gates at the back of her mind that she never, ever opened. That she spent so much of her time making sure nothing could slip through.

She wasn’t helpless. She had promised herself that she was never going to be that helpless, that weak and soft and pathetic, ever again, and that was a promise she was going to keep the way she apparently couldn’t keep her secret. She might not be able to do anything about her being a vampire, but she wasn’t going to sit here and mope about it. She would find a way to use this to her advantage.

And she was not going to think about anything she had locked behind those black gates. She hadn’t thought about them even when she was dying. She wasn’t going to lose that battle now.

Chloe pushed herself off the bed and glanced out the window. It was getting dark. It would be time for her to be meeting with Ladybug and Chat and the newbie were soon. She should probably get going, especially if she had to sneak out.

She changed into black pants and a black and white striped shirt. Then she pulled a black sweatshirt over it. Being dressed in all black had to make it easier to sneak around, right? In fact, as she pulled on one of the few pairs of flat shoes she owned, Chloe kind of felt like a ninja. She could totally sneak out without being spotted.

At least by anyone who would tell her father about it and freak him out.

‘Or you could just fly down. That would get you out without freaking your father out,’ a voice said. The same, unhelpful voice coming from some delusional part of Chloe that had suggested she fly when she was trying to sneak into the hotel last night.

“Be useful or be silent,” Chloe snapped at the unhelpful place inside her, now officially in a terrible mood.

For a moment, the inside of her head was silent of the annoying, unhelpful voice. Then it spoke again. ‘Bee silent? Did you just make a pun at me? Don’t tell me Chat Noir is rubbing off on you already.’

“What? No,” Chloe said. Then it occurred to her that she was just standing in her bedroom, talking to herself. That was even worse than talking to the rain or the universe. She was officially starting to lose it.

She slipped out of her bedroom, sneaking out of the hotel without being spotted, as far as she knew, and headed towards Master Fu.

She was honestly kind of surprised that she remembered how to get there.

But she did, and it didn’t even take that long, and she didn’t get attacked by any more of those shadow creatures on the way there, which made the walk to Master Fu’s the highlight of her day. The one part that had actually gone the way it was supposed to.

Chloe walked into the building and pulled open the door, and the four people already inside the room all turned to stare at her.

“Chloe?” the stupid were-fox asked, sounding stunned. “Chloe Bourgeois? What are you doing here?” She glanced back at Ladybug and Chat Noir. “What is she doing here?”

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged startled, helpless glances. Apparently, they hadn’t realized Chloe couldn’t transform yet. Apparently, they hadn’t intended for Chloe to show up to this training session as herself.

Apparently, they didn’t want the new were-fox to know that Chloe was also a were.

But they didn’t have a cover story. They didn’t have a way to explain Chloe being there.

Which meant that Chloe had messed up again. She had blown her own secret for literally the fifth time today. And this time, it wasn’t the vampire secret, it was the were-creature secret, which was actually a much more important secret for Chloe to keep.

Chloe’s mind raced. It wasn’t her vampire secret she had just blown, but maybe it could be.

After all, if the world hadn’t ended the last four times someone found out she was now a vampire, it probably wasn’t about to end if one more person found out.

Chloe really, really hoped that it would just be one more person.


	7. Alya

“What is she doing here?” Alya asked Ladybug and Chat Noir.

They froze, sending each other panicked glances like they didn’t know what to say.

Beside Alya, Chloe rolled her eyes expressively. She turned to Alya. “I’m here because of this,” she said, opening her mouth to show Alya her teeth.

Alya opened her mouth as she looked at Chloe’s, fully intending to ask Chloe why she thought her teeth were a good explanation for anything.

But as it turned out, Chloe didn't think her teeth were an explanation. She thought her fangs were an explanation, when in reality, what they were was shocking.

Alya let out an involuntary yelp of surprise and fell back a step. "Whydoyouhavefangs?" The words all mashed together as they left her mouth, until they sounded more like one incomprehensible word instead of an actual sentence.

Chloe squinted at her for a second like she was trying to figure out what Alya had said. Then her expression cleared. "Oh, I kind of got murdered last night."

She said that casually, the way people normally said things like "I went out for groceries" or "I just got home from work." Then she walked over and sat on the mat on Master Fu's floor, crossing her legs and leaning back in a way that was much too relaxed considering the conversation.

"What?" Alya asked her flatly, her brain refusing to process what Chloe had just said. "What do you mean you got murdered last night?"

Chloe gave her a bored look. "I. Got. Murdered. Last. Night. Those are very simple words, fox breath. Which one of them are you too stupid to understand?"

Alya's hands balled into fists, and her new claws dug into her palms. She relaxed her hands and settled for just glaring at Chloe. "I understand all the words, Chloe, but people don't just go walking around town after they get murdered. Are you sure you know what that word means, because you're not dead. Or were you just being a drama queen? Did someone step on your foot or something and you decided that was like getting murdered, or…"

Chloe pouted and cut her off. "I did get murdered. One of those shadow creatures bit me and left me to die on the street."

She said it like a simple statement of fact, but Alya froze, her blood running cold. "Seriously?" she asked, her lips barely moving. Had something that horrible really happened to Chloe just last night? But she’d seemed so normal at school today.

Chloe glared at her. "Yes, seriously. Ladybug and Queen Bee had to work together to save me."

"Queen Bee? Who’s Queen Bee?" Alya asked.

Chloe raised her eyebrows at her. "They didn't tell you about Queen Bee? She's the other new were in town. A were-bee. Anyway, she and Ladybug managed to save me, but I was already kind of dead and turning, and now I'm kind of a vampire. Ladybug said I had to check in every day, at least until they figure out exactly what changes have happened to me. And since Queen Bee couldn't make it to this little shindig tonight, she asked me to come and tell her what all went down. And since I'm such a sweetheart, here I am." Chloe looked at Ladybug. "Speaking of changes, I can now say with certainty that I do not drink blood. I do drink honey. Obsessively. In my sleep. Bite through the glass to get to it. Also in my sleep. Incidentally, a couple of other people kind of know about the whole vampire thing now."

"Vampire?" Chat Noir asked, blinking several times in confusion.

"People know about this already?" Ladybug asked. She sounded pretty mad. "Seriously, Chloe?"

Chloe shrugged. "Well, the shadow creatures drink blood, right? Makes them basically vampires. So I must be a vampire too. Just like a honey vampire, or something. That's a thing, right? And now that I’m thinking, about it. Do you have any honey? I could totally use some."

Alya frowned. "I don't think a honey vampire is a thing," she said as Master Fu handed Chloe a jar of honey.

Chloe shot Alya an annoyed look. Then she bit through the glass jar and started sucking the honey out of it.

Everyone but Master Fu and Chloe herself yelped in surprise. "I didn't think she was serious about biting through the glass," Ladybug said, her voice sounding surprisingly small.

Chat Noir spoke next, his eyes as wide as saucers. "She does this in her sleep?"

Alya shook her head to snap herself out of the shock. "So, when am I going to meet this Queen Bee person?"

She was looking at Ladybug, but Master Fu answered instead. "Queen Bee is having some issues with her transformations. Until they are resolved, you will be unable to meet her and Chloe will be taking her place during these meetings instead."

Alya nodded understandingly, forcing herself not to make any comments about how she hoped Queen Bee worked out her transformation difficulties really, really soon.

Master Fu stepped forward. “But we should begin with the point of this meeting together: to train. Although, after this morning, we do have something else we need to do as well. We must decide what we are going to do about Lila Rossi.”

Ladybug blanched. “Let’s discuss that after training. You can show Chloe and Volpina how everything works, and Chat and I will go out and patrol Paris. After last night, I hate to think how many of those shadow creatures will be coming out in the next few minutes. We can deal with Lila afterwards.”

Master Fu nodded in agreement, and Ladybug and Chat Noir disappeared out a window. “Very well. I thought that since we have a new were here to train,” he said, nodding to Alya. “And a new were for someone else to pass information onto,” he added, nodding to Chloe. “We should have Wayzz teach this lesson.”

He waved his hand at a gramophone, and a small green flying turtle-like creature zoomed out of it.

Alya jumped only slightly. She had already met Trixx after all, when Trixx had come flying out of nowhere when all those shadow creatures had attacked the civilians. She had asked Alya to help her save them, and then told Alya she had to fight the light, or she would die. Then, without clarifying that statement at all, she had bitten Alya and disappeared.

Since then, Alya had heard Trixx’s voice in her head several times, telling her how to transform, how to fight so that she could save Ladybug and Chat Noir, and how to use her other powers, though Alya hadn’t quite mastered that one yet.

Chloe, on the other hand, screamed like a little girl and scrambled off the mat, trying to get away from the creature, backing up until she hit the wall. 

Apparently, she’d never seen a kwami before.

The little kwami smiled cheerfully at them both, not seeming to mind Chloe’s reaction. “Hi! My name is Wayzz, and I am the turtle guardian spirit. I will help you learn how to control your powers and how to fight, just as I helped Ladybug and Chat Noir, so that when you have to face the shadow creatures again, you will be prepared.”

He zipped into another room, calling out over his shoulder. “Come on! We’ll do our training in here!”

Alya followed him into the other room. It had a wrestling mat on the floor in the middle of the room and a boxing bag in one corner. On the other side of the room was a target with several holes in it, but no weapons to throw at it. There was also a dummy lying beside the target.

To Alya’s surprise, Chloe followed Wayzz into the room as well.

“What are you doing?” Alya asked, giving Chloe a bewildered look.

Chloe inspected her nails. “I’m a lot stronger and faster than I used to be,” she said in a bored voice. “I might as well learn to do something with it.”

Alya blinked several times. “You want to learn to fight? You? But you’re so… girly,” she said, going for the most diplomatic way she could think of to say what she was thinking.

Chloe snorted. “Right. Like that means I can’t fight.”

Alya didn’t really have a comeback for that. She shrugged and looked at Wayzz. “Alright. So what are you going to teach us first?”

“First, you have to learn to incorporate clothing into your transformation,” Wayzz said. “We wouldn’t someone to be unable to recognize your face only to recognize your clothing. Going around wearing the same outfits as a civilian and a superhero is a terrible idea. It’s almost as it bad as it would be to only change your outfit and put on a mask and not expect people to recognize you, even though you look exactly the same as you did before, just with a mask on! If you’re going to do something like that, you better have some potent magic on your side.”

Alya stared at the little kwami incredulously. “Wait. I can transform my clothes too?”

Wayzz tilted his head like he was thinking. “That’s not Trixx’s particular talent, any more than it is Tikki’s or Plagg’s. So like Chat Noir and Ladybug, you’ll have to make your own costume. But you should only have to put it once and then transform. After that, Trixx should be able to incorporate it into each transformation she does so you’re not fighting in your civilian clothes. Your secret identity is the most important thing you have.”

“So I’m supposed to make a costume then?” Alya asked.

Wayzz shrugged. “Ladybug did make you one, if you want to use it. You don’t have to use it, of course. It’s in the bathroom. Go look at it. If you decide you do want to use it, just de-transform, put it on, and retransform, and Trixx will incorporate it into your transformations. Though you should probably transform a few times once you got home tonight, just to make sure you’ve got it down.”

Alya nodded and headed in the direction Wayzz was pointing.

As she stepped into the bathroom to look at her possible new costume, she heard Chloe asking Wayzz about Queen Bee’s costume.

“Oh, Pollen doesn’t need help with a costume,” Wayzz replied. “As soon as Queen Bee works out her transformation issues, Pollen will create a costume for her when she transforms. She’ll probably also update it from time to time, as she figures out Queen Bee’s fighting style and it becomes clear what works and what doesn’t work for her costume-wise.”

Alya grinned at the costume in front of her. It was perfect. She pulled it on, retransformed, and headed back inside the training room.

Chloe’s eyes widened as she looked at Alya. Wayzz beamed at Alya approvingly.

Alya was now wearing a flowy orange and white top, belted around her waist, black pants, and orange and white hi-top sneakers.

Chloe’s expression went from surprised to snobby. “Wow. That costume would look so good if it wasn’t on you.”

“What is your problem with me?” Alya snapped.

“Girls!” Wayzz interrupted them. “Save the fighting for fighting.”

Alya looked at him and held up her hands, now wearing black elbow-length gloves that had convenient openings in the fingertips for her claws. “Why the gloves though? Are we worried about fingerprints? Does Ladybug just think gloves look really cool and we should all wear them?”

Wayzz shook his head. “Sometimes, Ladybug and Chat Noir grab hold of each other’s weapons for one reason or another. But any were-creatures weapon that’s not yours will burn if it comes in contact with your skin. Ladybug gave you gloves so that you could grab onto their weapons if you needed to without being burned.”

“Oh.” Alya looked down at her gloves. “That’s a good reason.”

Wayzz nodded. “Well, let’s start going through some basic fighting moves. Kicks, punches, that kind of stuff. You girls need to be able to defend yourselves. Once you’ve got some of the moves down, you can practice sparring with each other.”

Alya grinned. Now that part sounded fun.

Wayzz ran them through some fighting moves, and when he was sure Alya and Chloe had the basics down, he put them on the mat and had them practice on each other.

Alya fully expected to wipe the floor with Chloe. Vampire-like or not, Chloe was still basically a civilian, and Alya was not.

But as it turned out, Chloe was actually faster than Alya. Not by much, but it made beating her surprisingly difficult. She was stronger than a normal human as well, though not nearly as strong as Alya, at least not when Alya was transformed. Alya had a mean left hook that should have made winning easy, but Chloe’s kicks were practically lethal.

They sparred until Ladybug and Chat Noir got back, looking ragged from fighting shadow creatures.

“There’s still so many of them,” Ladybug said. “It was just one or two a night for months, and now suddenly there are like ten or twelve of them in one place, and a couple of others going solo, running around the city possessing people.”

Master Fu frowned. “There must be a reason Hawkmoth is suddenly stepping up his game so much.”

“We could ask Lila,” Alya suggested. “She might know something.”

Ladybug glared at her. She hadn’t seemed as bothered by Alya this morning as she had last night, and Alya had thought Ladybug was warming up to her, but apparently not. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Volpina?”

Alya grimaced. “I don’t think my hero name should be Volpina.”

“Why not?” Ladybug asked, still glaring at Alya.

Alya held up a finger. “Because when the citizens of Paris hear it, they’re going to think of the evil fox who tried to help Monsieur Lord of Shadows take over the city. Probably not good to keep the same name as her.” She held up another finger. “And you don’t seem to be able to say that name without snarling, and I don’t like being snarled at.”

“What would you want to be called instead?” Chat Noir asked curiously.

Alya grinned. “I’ve been thinking of some names. Let me pick my top five and then I’ll bring them to you, and you guys can help me pick the best one.”

Master Fu nodded. “We should talk to Lila though, see what she knows.” He held out his hand and Wayzz disappeared in a shimmer of light.

Chloe shrieked in surprise. Alya’s eyes widened. “Wait, you and Wayzz are bonded?” she asked. Master Fu smiled, amused, and nodded. “Then how can you separate like that?”

Master Fu shook his head. “It’s not a good idea for you to learn to do that yet, or even for Ladybug and Chat Noir to learn to do that. It’s not something I even do all that frequently.”

“Why not?” Alya asked.

“Because while being with your kwami will not prevent you’re being possessed in civilian form, as we now know from the experience with Lila, it will make it more difficult to do. And the kwami’s will help you to fight after you are possessed, possibly even giving you most if not all of your free will back,” Master Fu explained. “So as long as Papillion continues to attack the city, you should not separate from your kwamis.”

“Then how come you do it?” Chloe asked, her voice just dripping with rudeness.

Master Fu didn’t seem to mind. “Wayzz is the guardian kwami. The protector of all. He is immune to nearly everything, including mind control, as is his holder. But even without him, I have some tricks up my sleeves that will keep me from being possessed. Though nothing I could teach any of you, at least not in less than a decade.”

Ladybug spoke up then. “Which is why Master Fu is the only one who can know our true identities. We can’t know who each other are. If one of us gets possessed in civilian form, we have to assume that we will tell Papillion that we are a were. And that we’ll out anyone whose civilian form we know. We have to keep it a secret, even from each other.”

Alya held up her hand. “Hold up. Are you telling me you and Chat Noir don’t know who each other are?”

Ladybug scowled. “Of course not. That would be irresponsible.”

Chat Noir smiled weakly. “Right.”

Alya stared at them. How could they not tell each other who they were? Weren’t they partners?

Chloe seemed to think it was weird too. “So if one of us gets possessed or worse, the other ones won’t even know.”

“Master Fu’ll know,” Chat pointed out.

Alya shook her head. “Not me. Master Fu doesn’t know my civilian identity.”

Master Fu smiled at her. “Yes, I do.” He met Alya’s shocked eyes and smiled wider. “Trixx was devastated after what happened with Lila. I started to look for another potential were to help her feel better. And I found you. Told Trixx about you. She went to see you once in person, though she made sure you couldn’t see her. You must have been close enough to the attack last night to be in danger, and Trixx sensed it, or else she would not have known it was happening.”

Alya blinked. She’d definitely been close to the attack last night. She’d been in it.

Master Fu kept talking. “So you see my dear, while I may not have been able to be there for you when you became a were, and was not able to explain the process to you, I did choose you.”

Everyone stared at him in shock. “You didn’t tell me you were doing that,” Ladybug said, sounding hurt.

“I didn’t want you to worry about another Volpina until I was sure that there was at least one candidate,” Master Fu said. “Now, shall we go talk to Lila?”

Ladybug nodded, though she looked hesitant, and all of them filed into a different room. All except Chloe, who apparently didn’t care about what Lila had to say.

This room was completely bare, except for a large, holographic turtle shell that served as a cage for Lila Rossi.

The shell must have been sound proof, because Lila was screaming and banging on the shell and they couldn’t hear a thing. She stopped when she saw them, and Master Fu waved his hand. A small hole opened in the side of the shell. “We have a few questions to ask you,” Master Fu said.

Lila looked at Ladybug. “Are you sure you want to do that?” It was clear that she was only talking to Ladybug herself. “Aren’t you scared I’ll spill your little secret? Because I doubt you were open enough to tell the others who you really are. And I don’t blame you. Would they ever trust you again? Would they be anything but disappointed if they could see the girl behind the masquerade?”

Ladybug flinched, her hands curling into fists. “As if they would believe anything you say. You’re nothing but a liar.”

Lila smiled. “I’m pretty sure once I tell them you really are, they’ll be able to tell I’m not lying.”

Alya had to stop herself from clenching her own hands. She was about to tell Lila off, but Chat Noir beat her to it.

He slashed his hand through the air, black liquid bleeding from his claws. He held his hand out, and the liquid solidified into a long staff and flew into his hand.

Chat Noir pointed the staff at Lila, his eyes narrowed into slits. “Don’t you dare say another word about Ladybug.”

Lila looked at him disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t try to be scary, Chat. It’s not your thing.”

A growl started to build deep in Alya’s chest. She could feel Trixx’s anger at Lila as well as her own boiling inside her. She bared her teeth at Lila and spoke, letting the anger bleed into her voice. “I think it could be my thing, though. Say anything about Ladybug’s identity, and you’d better hope you spend the rest of your life in that turtle shell, because it’ll be the only thing stopping me from tearing you apart!”

Lila smiled smugly. “You wouldn’t do that.”

Alya met her eyes steadily. “You wanna bet on that?” she asked, letting her voice change from loud and angry to quiet and icy cold. “It doesn’t matter who Ladybug is, I’ll have her back either way. We’ll have her back no matter what. The only thing you’ll accomplish is putting yourself in a world of hurt.”

Lila’s eyes narrowed. She looked at Alya speculatively, but she didn’t say anything.

Master Fu spoke. “Your master has really been pulling out all the stops yesterday and today. Why?”

“Because his master just got into town,” Lila answered, not taking her eyes off Alya. She smiled then, a wide and honestly terrifying smile. “And if you thought the Lord of Shadows was bad, just wait until you meet her.”


	8. Chloe

It had been two weeks since Chloe had been turned into a vampire.

Two weeks since Lila had told them Papillion had a boss of his own, and they had still been unable to confirm if she was telling the truth about that or not.

Either way, Papillion hadn’t backed off. There were still a dozen or so shadow vampires out every night. Fox Breath was doing a pretty good job helping Ladybug and Chat Noir out. She was getting to be a very impressive fighter, though any attempt to use her other powers resulted only in a few faint wisps of smoke.

Except for the time when a couple shadow vampires had attacked Fox Breath close to Master Fu’s, when Chloe had jumped onto one of the vampire’s back and hit it in the head with her purse until it had decided to melt back into the shadows and go back to its master, Chloe had left the fighting to the weres who could transform.

It was definitely starting to wear them down. Every day, the three of them seemed a little more tired, and Fox Breath got a little more frustrated with her inability to use her powers. Ladybug and Chat had assured her that everyone struggled with different things. Chat almost hadn’t woken up after he’d been bitten. Ladybug had woken up fine, but then had struggled with learning to transform.

Although, apparently, she hadn’t struggled with transforming as much as Chloe was. She could tell from the looks Chat and Ladybug gave her that they were no longer sure she’d be able to change, no longer sure that she was a full were.

Master Fu, on the other hand, was still sure Chloe would be able to change. He told her Pollen’s chosen usually had a hard time learning to work with her at first, but once they got past the bumps they were always fantastic.

Pollen was apparently the name of the annoying voice in Chloe’s head. She didn’t ever offer helpful advice like she was supposed to. She didn’t even talk to Chloe all that often, and when she did it was almost always about someone else and what Chloe could do to help them, which was annoying.

On the rare occasions she did talk to Chloe about herself, it was usually because something Chloe did made her mad.

And that was a bad thing, because Pollen when she was mad was absolutely terrifying. Even if she was nothing more than a voice in Chloe’s head.

Chloe often made weak, pathetic people cry with some of her truthful comments, and that had made her immune to other people being what was apparently considered mean to her.

But when she was mad, Pollen was a whole other level of mean. Pollen probably could have saved the city of Paris just by yelling at Papillion. After five minutes with her, he probably would have run out of the city crying and been too ashamed and scared to come back.

Pollen’s meanness even bothered Chloe.

But it didn’t bother her as much as looking in a mirror did. 

Apparently, there was no cure for Chloe’s lost reflection. She was going to be stuck, most likely for the rest of her life, unable to see her own face anywhere but in old photos.

And that was definitely the worst part about the last two weeks.

Okay, so maybe Paris was living in terror of vampires that were attacking every night. Maybe the heroes of Paris were slowly wearing down. Maybe everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed if things continued as they were.

But Chloe couldn’t take a selfie, couldn’t put on her own makeup, couldn’t even look in a mirror to check if her hair looked okay.

Chloe flopped onto her bed and groaned into the mattress. “My face. My beautiful face. I miss it so much.”

Inside her head, Pollen gave the mental equivalent of an irritated sigh. ‘Stop dwelling on it already. It just upsets you, and we’ve got more important things to worry about.’

Chloe automatically answered Pollen mentally instead of out loud. It was a habit she’d gotten into after a few embarrassing instances when she’d gotten into an argument with Pollen in public. Chloe had had crowds of people staring at her before she even realized she was speaking out loud. So she’d learned to just always respond to Pollen in her head. Can’t have the public thinking the mayor’s daughter was having a nervous breakdown. ‘What? You wouldn’t care if you lost your reflection? You must be really ugly then.’

‘I am absolute perfection,’ Pollen answered, and Chloe could tell she was starting to get mad. ‘But you’re an idiot. If you don’t show up in photos, why don’t you just get a portrait done? And then maybe you’ll be able to focus on something else.’

Chloe froze. ‘I never even thought of that.’

‘Because you’re an idiot.’ There was a brief moment of silence in Chloe’s head before Pollen threw out another insult. ‘And your hair is stupid.’

‘You can’t even see my hair,’ Chloe reminded her, her face heating up with anger.

Pollen didn’t deign to respond to that. Chloe would have rubbed that in, but they were getting dangerously close to angry Pollen territory. She kept her mental mouth shut.

She pushed herself up and headed out of her room, to find her dad and demand that he get her set up with an artist to do a portrait of her. Not that she’d be able to tell him why she really wanted to have her portrait donr, but it wasn’t like it would be too hard to come up with an excuse….

Chloe came to a dead stop with only one foot out of the elevator. Or, she thought to herself and not to Pollen because Pollen had horrible taste in hair and Chloe didn’t care what she thought, I could just go to an artist who already knows about me so I don’t have to explain why I want to sit for a portrait and not just have them draw one from a photo.

She’d seen some of Nathanael’s work after all, even if he hadn’t exactly meant for her to. They were just sketches he’d done during class, but they were pretty good. If he took his time and was properly motivated, he could probably do some reasonably good portraits.

‘Not a bad idea,’ Pollen said, as if Chloe cared about her opinion. ‘Maybe don’t threaten to kill him this time though.’

‘Technically, I didn’t threaten to kill him last time,’ Chloe pointed out, trying to reign in her temper before she started another fight with Pollen. ‘I just let him assume that I would kill him if he didn’t do what I wanted. That’s not the same.’

Pollen sighed again. ‘Right. But maybe try something different this time. He did save your life.’

Chloe paused at that. As she’d found out about a week ago, she’d been killed pretty close to Nathanael’s house. He’d heard her screaming, and while his parents called the police, who could not help Chloe, he’d posted fifty-something times on the Ladyblog, until Chat Noir and Ladybug had finally seen it.

One of his posts had even said “it sounds like Chloe,” which meant that he knew it was her. And since he’d found the next day that she’d been turned into a vampire and been one less than a day, he might very well have figured out that it was Chloe he’d heard. That he’d been just a tiny bit involved with saving her, and that she’d responded by threatening his life.

If Chloe was capable of feeling guilt, she might have felt a little guilty about that. Except that Chloe never felt guilty, because Chloe was not capable of doing anything wrong.

Though, strangely enough, she hadn’t managed to make herself to talk to or even look at Nathanael after she’d found that out.

Not that she had looked at or talked to him that much before anyway.

But that was going to have to end tonight. Chloe wanted a picture of her face, and there was no one better than Nathanael to give it to her.

‘I’ll order him to do it first,’ Chloe told Pollen as she snuck out of the hotel. She’d gotten better at that the last couple of weeks. ‘I’ll save the death threats for if he refuses to do it. Happy?’

Then she ran into the night, heading toward Nathanael’s house.

 

Nathanael’s mom opened the door and her eyes widened at the sight of Chloe.

Chloe smiled nervously, careful not to show her teeth. “Hi, I’m…”

“Chloe Bourgeois. I know. You’re in Nathanael’s class,” Nathanael’s mom said, eyeing Chloe warily.

“Yeah, I am,” Chloe said, not remotely surprised that the woman knew who she was. She was pretty famous, after all. One of Paris’ most beloved teenagers. “Well, I was wondering if I could maybe talk to him. Please?” she added, even though that saying that word was physically painful. But she had to be polite and … ugh… nice. That way, even if Nathanael decided to tell his family about her being an evil vampire or whatever, they wouldn’t believe him. “Just for a little while, about some… school stuff.”

His mom’s eyes widened even more. “Oh yes, of course.”

She motioned for Chloe to come into the house. Chloe stepped inside and Nathanael’s mom slipped away. She was back a moment later. “He’ll be down in a minute,” she said, eyeing Chloe.

Chloe nodded and glanced around. Everything about the way the house was decorated made Chloe think Nathanael was probably not the only artist in his family.

You can do this, Chloe, she told herself. You can be nice to this peasant for one minute. She looked at the woman and put on her biggest, most convincing smile. “You have a beautiful house, Madame Kutzberg.”

Nathanael’s mom blinked a couple of times. “Oh, thank you,” she said, smiling back tentatively. “I’m sure it’s not as nice as your dad’s hotel, though.”

Chloe liked the way she said that. Not “the mayor.” “You dad,” like his being Chloe’s dad was more important. Her smile this time was a little less wide, but maybe just a tiny, tiny bit more real. “Oh, it’s definitely not as fancy,” she said, and Madame Kutzberg’s tentative smile lessened slightly. “But it is, uh… what’s the word? Homey,” Chloe added.

She had been trying to make her reaction a little more diplomatic, not give a compliment, but Nathanael’s mom beamed at her like it was the best one. “Thank you! I always figured it was better to have a place that looked lived in and comfortable, instead of a place that always looked super clean and perfect.

Chloe frowned. She didn’t really understand that way of thinking. Obviously, clean and perfect were the best thing a place to live could be. She opened her mouth to say something to that effect.

But Madame Kutzberg was already saying something else. “Can I get you anything? A drink, or something to eat? Have you had dinner yet?”

She actually sounded worried about Chloe, and for some reason, it really threw Chloe off to have someone who wasn’t her father or the butler or Sabrina worrying about her.

Chloe blinked at her at a couple of times in surprise. “No, I’m really okay,” she started to say.

“Chloe!” Nathanael’s startled voice cut her off. Chloe’s head snapped to look at Nathanael. He glanced at his mom, who was still smiling warmly at Chloe. Then his eyes went back to Chloe, looking at her like she was literally the devil. “Uh, why don’t we go talk in my room?” he suggested.

Chloe nodded quickly. “Uh, nice to meet you, Madame Kutzberg, I guess,” she said.

Madame Kutzberg smiled and nodded, not seeming to notice the ‘I guess.’ “Pleasure to meet you too,” she said simply. Chloe nodded back and headed towards Nathanael.

He led her back to his room, his mom calling out after them. “Make you sure you leave the door open!”

Nathanael went bright red. He stopped outside his bedroom door and motioned for Chloe to go in first.

Chloe stepped inside Nathanael’s room. Unsurprisingly, his room was smaller and not as nice as hers, and he had art supplies and papers scattered absolutely everywhere.

“Sorry,” Nathanael muttered. “Would have cleaned up if I knew someone was coming.” Then he stopped and shook his head hard. “No, wait. I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry. I told you I’d keep your secret. You said you’d leave me alone. This is not leaving me alone. And why were you talking to my mom like that? Why was that necessary?”

Chloe frowned at him. “Talking to your mom like what? We were just having a normal conversation.”

“That’s the problem!” Nathanael practically shrieked. He stopped and took a deep breath. He spoke again, his voice quieter and more controlled. “You never have normal conversations with people, Chloe. You have rude conversations with people. You say mean things to them. You have bullied our entire class every year. And you pretty much ignored me, which is better than being bullied at least, but then you started threatening to kill me and now you’re being nice to my mother. There are lines Chloe, lines even you shouldn’t cross!”

Chloe stared at him. “You’re mad at me for not being rude to your mom?”

Nathanael looked away from her. “After you threatened to kill me? You can’t be nice to my mom. She might decide she likes you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose like he was getting a headache. “Then she’ll be asking me every two weeks if I’m dating you yet. Haven’t you done enough to me, Chloe? Was this really what you wanted?”

Chloe shook her head. “That’s not why I came here. That’s definitely not what I want.”

Nathanael sighed and looked up at her. “Then what do you want?”

"I want you to draw me."

Nathanael blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I said I want you to draw me. Or else I'll, I don't know, kill you. Or something. Whatever it is vampires are supposed to do to people who don't give them what they want."

He stared at her in shock. "What?"

Chloe sighed. "Are you deaf? Draw. Me."

‘Oh, sure,’ Pollen said. ‘Be rude to him right after him you threatened to kill him. That’s a good idea. And it wasn’t even a good death threat. A good death threat should never contain the phrase ‘I don’t know.’ It completely ruins it.’

Chloe ignored Pollen’s death threat pointers and focused on Nathanael instead.

Nathanael rubbed his face tiredly. “Or you’ll kill me?” She nodded. “Seriously, Chloe? You’re going to just keep going around, spouting out death threats you don’t mean and letting people think you’re a vampire when you’re clearly not one?”

Chloe stared at him. “What are you talking about? Of course I’m…”

“No, you’re not.” Nathanael cut her off, his tone surprisingly assertive. She stared at him in surprise and he shook his head. “Rose cut her finger the other day in class on a piece of paper. Started bleeding. You didn’t even notice. And you said something, about how you wouldn’t drink my blood even if I wasn’t anemic, which I was lying about, by the way, so don’t try to tell me that you really drink blood. So there’s no way you’re going around killing people. Which means you’re bluffing about killing me.”

She frowned at him. That was yet another thing she had always known about Nathanael that she had wrongly never thought about being a problem: the fact that when Nathanael was actually awake and paying attention, he noticed everything.

“Fine. I guess you’re not a complete idiot,” Chloe said. “But you should still draw me. I can totally make your life miserable otherwise.”

“Fine,” Nathanael agreed, though he didn’t seem very happy about it. He motioned for her to take a seat and grabbed a pencil and a sketchpad. “I can’t believe you feel like you need a portrait done after two weeks of not being able to see your reflection. It’s not like you’ve changed. Why can’t you just look at a photograph from before?”

Chloe rolled her eyes as he started to sketch her. “Because it’s not the same as looking in the mirror. You’re not replacing a photo of me. You’re replacing my mirror.”

“I’m not sketching you every day,” Nathanael said flatly. “I’m definitely not sketching you however often it is you usually look in the mirror.”

Chloe wasn’t listening to him. Another thought had occurred to her. She looked at him with a wide smile. “You could be like my magic mirror. Mirror, mirror, on the wall who is the fairest of them all?”

Nathanael didn’t even blink. “Ladybug.” Then he went bright red, like maybe he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“Huh,” Chloe said. “I thought you’d say Marinette,” she said, saying Marinette’s name like it was an insult, which it was. “You have better taste than I thought. But,” she continued, glaring at him. “You were supposed to say me, idiot.”

Nathanael shrugged but didn’t answer her.

He sketched in silence for a while. Chloe tapped her foot against the floor, until finally she got so bored she couldn’t stand it anymore. “You’re failing science,” she blurted out.

Nathanael stopped sketching for a moment and looked away from her, his face slowly turning red. “Why are you bringing that up?”

Chloe frowned at him. “You’re not stupid enough to be failing science. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have worked out the blood thing so fast.”

Nathanael shifted uncomfortably, and Chloe got the idea that he’d probably heard something like that before. “Science is boring,” he muttered as he resumed drawing. Chloe opened her mouth to say something else and Nathanael spoke again before she could. “Why’d you let me think you were a vampire, anyway? Isn’t that worse than just not having a reflection?”

Chloe frowned at him. “I am vampire. I just happen to like honey the way normal vampires like blood. But I’m still a vampire. I’m just like, a honey vampire, or something. That’s totally a thing.”

Nathanael shook his head. “It’s not.”

Chloe glared at him. “Is to, loser.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I’m guessing that you ended up with fangs and without a reflection from when the shadow creatures killed you. How’d you end up still so human and having an addiction to honey?”

Chloe sighed. “Queen Bee. She’s a hero, like Ladybug and Chat Noir. She helped Ladybug save me. So I ended up only turning part of the way, lost my reflection, got some fangs, and a love of honey.”

Nathanael nodded. Neither of them said anything else as Nathanael continued to sketch Chloe.

Finally, he stopped, putting his pencil down and looking up at Chloe nervously.

“Well? Let me see it,” Chloe demanded.

Nathanael blushed bright red. “I don’t normally let people see my work…”

“Stop being a drama queen,” Chloe snapped. “You’re not a bad enough artist to get so self-conscious, and besides, I’ve already seen your work. You drew stupid Marinette just as ugly as she is in real life, so I’m sure your drawing of me is somewhat decent.”

Nathanael frowned at her. Strangely enough, he didn’t seem encouraged by her pep talk. “I don’t know,” he started to say.

Chloe stood up and yanked the sketchpad away from him. He yelped in protest.

She looked at the drawing of herself and froze, her breath catching in her throat.

How could she have been so stupid? She totally should have been using this boy for his artistic talent forever ago.

Nathanael was babbling something about how it wasn’t finished yet, how he could make it so much better if he just…

Chloe put a finger to his lips to make him shut up. “Don’t be stupid. It’s me. It’s already perfect.”

Nathanael’s face changed colors, turning even brighter than his hair. Chloe pulled her hand away from his mouth. “Th… thank you,” he stuttered. “I’m gl… glad you like it.”

Chloe took the drawing off and handed the sketchpad back to him. “Alright. I’m going home now,” she announced, walking out of his bedroom and heading toward the front door.

“Wait, Chloe!” Nathanael’s mom came bustling out of another room, stepping in front of the door so Chloe couldn’t leave. “You can’t go home by yourself! It’s starting to get dark! It’s not safe!”

Chloe stared at her in disbelief. “It’s not dark enough for the shadow creatures to be out yet,” she said, speaking slowly so Madame Kutzberg, who was clearly a little thick, would understand. “I’ll be home before they are.”

Madame Kutzberg frowned at her like Chloe was the one who was a little thick. “The shadow creatures are not the only things in Paris to be scared of.”

“But…” Chloe started to say.

“I’ll walk her home.”

Chloe spun around to look at Nathanael, who had come out of his bedroom so quietly Chloe hadn’t even heard him. He met Chloe’s shocked eyes steadily. “I’ll walk you home.”

Madame Kutzberg frowned. “Won’t it be dark before you get home?”

“I’ll send him back in a car,” Chloe said.

Madame Kutzberg nodded. “Thank you, dear.”

Chloe sent her another fake smile, and she and Nathanael left his house.

They walked for the first few minutes in silence. Chloe was getting more and more bored by the second.

“These shoes are killing my feet,” she said finally.

“I’m not carrying you again,” Nathanael replied. “You’re a lot heavier than you look.”

Chloe stopped walking to stomp her foot. “I am not. Why does everyone keep saying that to me?”

Nathanael shrugged but didn’t apologize. Chloe marched after him, fully intending to make him, but that was when they heard the growling.

She froze and glanced over her shoulder. In front of her, Nathanael came to a dead stop, his shoulders hunching up around his ears. “Please tell me that wasn’t what I thought it was.”

Chloe stared at the small mob of shadow creatures that had appeared out of nowhere. “Depends,” she said, swallowing hard and hoping her own voice wasn’t squeaking, or that if it was, she at least sounded more dignified than he did. “Did you think it was a puppy? Because it’s not a puppy.”

Nathanael turned around slowly, his eyes widening when he saw the creatures. “Why are there so many of them? Why are they out so early? I don’t want to die! We’re totally going to die!”

Chloe frowned. “I don’t think I can die. And I know I can’t get possessed anymore.”

“Well, then,” Nathanael said. “You can be the distraction.”

He put his hands on Chloe’s back and pushed hard. The push surprised her, and she stumbled forward a few steps as Nathanael turned and sprinted the other direction.

The shadow creatures started running toward her. There were six of them. That was more than she could take on her own. She turned and ran after Nathanael.

“Coward!” she yelled after him. “You can’t just leave a girl to get eaten by monsters!”

“They won’t eat you,” he yelled back. “They might eat me! I’m the one who needs to run away!”

“I can’t take this many by myself! Come back here and fight like a man!”

“Unnecessary death is not manly!”

‘He has a point. You probably should distract them so he can get away,’ Pollen said.

‘Shut up,’ Chloe replied.

‘What would Ladybug do?’

Chloe growled and slammed to a stop, turning around and throwing herself at the shadow creatures.

If nothing else, her about face certainly took them by surprise.

She knocked four of them to the ground, but the other two lept after Nathanael. Judging from the way their mouths were opened, fangs bared, they weren't going for the possession. They were going for the kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got to the part in the summary! Whoop whoop!


	9. Nathanael

One second, Nathanael was running down the street with Chloe yelling at him and a few, only slightly scarier monsters behind her.

The next second, two shadow creatures slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Nathanael knew he was about to die, but when he tried to scream, all he could make was a squeaking sound.

And the second after that, a bright light came out of nowhere. It washed over him harmlessly, but the shadow creatures screeched when it hit them and tumbled off of him like they’d been pushed.

Nathanael pushed himself up onto his elbows so he could stand.

Standing in front of him in the middle of a group of collapsed group of monsters was the most beautiful girl Nathanael had ever seen. His brain went straight from monsters-are-about-to-kill-me panic to that-girl-is-gorgeous-and-my-brain-is-no-longer-working panic.

But the girl was clearly a hero, like Ladybug herself, so at least Nathanael was probably not going to die now.

The monsters struggled back to their feet and launched themselves towards the girl. She dodged out of the way, moving towards Nathanael, which also meant that the monsters were moving toward Nathanael as well.

It didn’t take long for Nathanael to realize that was her strategy. As soon as the shadow creatures got close to him, they started focusing on him instead of her, obviously wanting to possess him so they would have better odds. And the second they took their eyes of her, she’d flip them and send them flying, or kick them or hit them and knock them down. She moved faster than Nathanael had ever seen anyone move before, even the other heroes of Paris.

Nathanael would have been mad about her using him as bait, but she was doing a really good job at it. None of them even got close to him before the girl sent them flying.

Not the girl, Nathanael realized, looking at the black stripes on her yellow shirt. He remembered Chloe talking about this girl earlier tonight, about how she’d helped save Chloe and left her with a love of honey. He remembered what she’d called her.

“You’re Queen Bee,” Nathanael said.

She kicked one creature so hard in the gut it immediately melted back into shadows. “I’m surprised you’ve heard of me. I didn’t think any cameras had caught me on film yet.”

She smiled at him like she was sharing an inside joke, but Nathanael had somehow missed what it was. He couldn’t even focus on that. Because when Queen Bee smiled, it was like sunshine and flowers and honey and absolutely everything that was good in the world. Bright and warm and soft and sweet.

“N… no… th… they haven’t. I… I know Chloe,” Nathanael managed to say, not at all pleased that his stammer was back. He hadn’t had to deal with that since he’d gotten over Marinette.

She sent him an amused smile and used her whole body to hurl a shadow creature far away from him. “Lucky you.”

He couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. He assumed she was, because it would make more sense, but her voice was as soft and as sweet as bell no matter what she said, so he couldn’t be sure.

He was in so much trouble. A girl as warm and sunny and sweet as Marinette, with all the grace and strength and boldness of Ladybug. He was in so much trouble. He didn’t stand a chance.

He was in love.

And to think, just a little bit earlier, he’d been suffering in the presence of Chloe, a girl who was almost the devil incarnate, and now he had an angel standing by him. She even had wings. Granted, they were bee wings, which wasn’t exactly what he imagined on an angel, but they were still wings.

He’d actually been starting to think that maybe Chloe wasn’t quite as bad as he’d thought, but she was nothing compared to this girl.

Speaking of which…

“Where did Chloe go?” Nathanael asked, suddenly feeling a bit concerned. Chloe wasn’t his favorite person, but if something had happened to her…

Queen Bee sent him a look he couldn’t quite read. “Was she here? I didn’t see her. She must have taken off before I showed up.”

Nathanael couldn’t believe he’d worried about her. “Of course she did.”

Queen Bee didn’t respond to that, possibly because she was too busy fighting. There were a lot of shadows there, after all.

But eventually, all of the shadows had melted into darkness.

Queen Bee moved to stand beside Nathanael, finally holding still instead of moving in a blur of speed, and Nathanael got his first proper look at her.

He couldn’t tell exactly tell how tall she was, because she was wearing thigh high boots with some very high, sharp looking heels on them. She wore black pants and a form fitting yellow shirt with a few black stripes around the waist. Her sleeves were short but her gloves went all the way up to her shoulders, black with yellow fingertips. Her shirt came with a collar as well, so Nathanael could only see the stripes on her skin on her face.

They were gold, edged with black. He knew the other heroes had similar markings, though in different colors, but he swore the pattern on Queen Bee’s was prettier. Her eyes and curly hair, pulled back in a high ponytail, were the color of honey. It lent her face a warmth and a softness that Nathanael was sure would make it impossible for her to look anything but sweet, no matter what emotion she was trying to convey.

She spoke, soft pink lips smiling as she did, her beautiful voice as gentle as a breeze. “Are you okay?” she asked, sounding like she was trying not to laugh. She held out her hand to help him up.

Nathanael’s face felt like it had been set on fire. “Ye… yeah… I’m okay,” he stuttered as he took her hand.

Queen Bee pulled him to his feet. “We should…” she started to say.

There were so many things she could have said next. We should get you back home? We should do a little superhero-style flirting? We should make out? We should run away and get married and ride a horse off into the sunset? Nathanael would have happily agreed to any of the possibilities, but Queen Bee never finished the sentence.

She was cut out of the screaming.

Queen Bee heaved a sigh. “Of course. I should have known there weren’t enough of them to be tonight’s main attack. There must be more of them out already. Geez. They’ve never attacked this early at night before.” She frowned, her eyes looking off into the distance, then suddenly snapping back to him. “I can’t leave you here. More shadow creatures might show up. Guess I have to take you with me.”

“I th… think I’m okay with th… that,” Nathanael said.

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You sure about that?” Her wings buzzed. “It would probably be fastest to fly, as long as we don’t crash. But I don’t have a lot of experience, so….”

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Nathanael said.

She shrugged. “Yeah, well, if I don’t, I’ll probably be fine. You might die, but I guess if you don’t even care I don’t need to worry about it.”

Nathanael blinked. “Wait, what?”

Queen Bee didn’t answer him. She stepped toward him and without another word, scooped him up princess styles in her arms.

Nathanael turned bright red and opened his mouth to protest, but he didn’t get a chance before Queen Bee’s wings started buzzing again. They lifted off the ground, wobbling a little before they shot forward with incredible speed.

Nathanael yelped and held onto Queen Bee for dear life. Her eyes widened, and Nathanael followed her gaze to see that they were about to crash into a building.

He screamed and closed his eyes, and he kept screaming until it registered that a) they should have already run into the building and b) Queen Bee was totally laughing at him. Pretty hard, actually. He would have been offended, but her laughter was as soft and pretty as a bell, and he couldn’t find it in him to be insulted.

Honestly, he was pretty sure she could have said anything, no matter how insulting, and it wouldn’t offend anyone. She was far too sweet.

He opened his eyes. They were above the buildings now, and Queen Bee was flying like she had been born to do it.

Paris was always beautiful, but it was even more beautiful like this.

“I wish I had my pencil and sketchpad right now,” Nathanael breathed, staring wide eyed at the city below him.

“Bring it with you next time,” Queen Bee said. “I mean, you’re an artist? That’s so cool. I had no idea, because there is literally no way I could possibly have known that.”

Nathanael squinted at her, wondering why her voice sounded so weird as she talked. Actually, the words she was saying sounded a little weird too. “Yeah, I’m an artist. I’m…”

His voice trailed off. The screaming was getting a lot closer now.

He looked down to see a group of about seventeen shadow creatures attacking the three other heroes of Paris. The heroes seemed to be struggling to hold their own against them.

Queen Bee stopped on a roof close to the attack and set Nathanael. “Stay here,” she said, as she took off into the air.

Nathanael grabbed the roof. “Where am I gonna go?” he asked shrilly.

She smirked at him over her shoulder. “Let me rephrase: don’t fall.”

“That’s… not really helpful,” Nathanael called after her.

She didn’t answer him, too busy flying into the battle.

And she flew straight into it, shooting into several of the shadow creatures and sending both her and them tumbling to the ground.

“What the…” Not-Volpina said in shock. Nathanael knew she had come up with her own superhero name, but the life of him, he couldn’t remember what it was. No one called her that by the other heroes of Paris anyway. Everyone else just called her Volpina, or if they were trying to be nice and not compare her to the evil fox who’d tried to help the Lord of Shadows take over the city. “Who…? Wait. Queen Bee?”

“The one and only,” Queen Bee said, getting back to her feet and stumbling slightly. A shadow creature lunged toward her from behind. She kicked it in the stomach without even leaving back.

“You’re Queen Bee?” Not-Volpina asked. “But if you’re like a bee, shouldn’t you be mean or scary or something? Look at you. You look like pure sunshine. Are you sure you’re a bee?”

Queen Bee flashed her a wide smiled. “I may be sweet as honey, but believe me, if you make me mad, you’re going to want to run very fast the other direction.”

A couple more shadow creatures came at her. Queen Bee’s wings buzzed and she lifted off the ground to kick them both in the face.

“Whoa!” Chat Noir said. “That move was un-bee-lievable.” He shredded his claws through another shadow creature and sent it melting back into a shadow.

“I know. But you’re pretty claw-some yourself, kitty,” Queen Bee replied.

Nathanael’s heart stopped. Was she flirting with Chat Noir?

Ladybug growled as she threw one shadow creature into another one. “Less puns, more fighting you two. And kitty is my nickname for Chat. You get your own!”

“Alright, alright,” Queen Bee said. “Don’t get your spots in a bunch.”

They stopped talking for a while after that, focusing their energy on fighting.

Watching all of them fight together was amazing. Not that their fighting styles meshed, exactly. With the exception of Ladybug and Chat Noir, who seemed to know each other’s fighting moves as well as they knew their own, they couldn’t predict where each other were going to be or what they were going to do and kept crashing into each other as a result.

More specifically, everyone kept crashing into Queen Bee. She had a habit of throwing herself kamikaze style at the shadow creatures and wiping them out, and often caught the other heroes in the process. Ladybug usually managed to dodge her, but she wiped out Not-Volpina and Chat Noir every time.

Queen Bee never showed any sign of being more than a little fazed, no matter who she crashed into, but after the third time she crashed into Not-Volpina, she started not fighting quite as well.

“Stop hitting her already!” Ladybug snapped, and Nathanael frowned at the way she was yelling at Queen Bee.

Besides the fact that she was taking out her own teammates, it wasn’t a bad strategy. The shadow creatures did seem to be getting pretty hurt by her antics, and the majority of the time Queen Bee only went kamikaze when too many shadow creatures started ganging up one of her teammates. Nathanael couldn’t help but wonder why he seemed to be the only one who noticed that.

The next time any of them spoke was when Queen Bee kicked at a shadow creature’s head. It dodged, and her heel barely grazed its cheek.

Its cheek immediately began to ooze a dark liquid.

Queen Bee and the shadow creature both froze in surprise, staring at the ooze dripping down the shadow creature’s cheek and the heel of Queen Bee’s boot. 

Not-Volpina yelped in surprise. “Are your heels sharp?”

Queen Bee didn’t answer her for a second. When she did speak, her voice came out so loud and high pitched the shadow creatures around her flinched like it was hurting their ears. “Ew! Look at this! You got shadow creature goo on my shoe!”

She kicked the creature again, this time so hard her shoe stuck into its chest and it melted back into the darkness with a yowl of pain.

Nathanael almost felt sorry for the murderous, blood-sucking creature. He was suddenly starting to think Queen Bee had been right when she’d said to run if she ever got angry. She only seemed slightly annoyed right now and she was already pretty terrifying.

It took a while, but eventually the four of them got rid of all of the shadow creatures.

Ladybug sighed heavily. “Finally. Good work everyone! Let’s split up, spend some time patrolling the city for more shadow creatures and then we’ll head home.”

She flew away and the rest of them split up and headed away from the scene, heading toward different parts of the city.

Including Queen Bee.

“Wait!” Nathanael yelled after her, but she didn’t appear to hear him. He whimpered and clung to the roof he was on. “How am I supposed to get down from here?”

For a minute, he wondered if he would be up here all night. Someone would eventually realize he was up here and call the fire department or something to get him down, right? And until then, he would probably be safe as long as he didn’t fall off, right? The shadows creatures wouldn’t come up there to eat him, right?

Then he heard a surprisingly loud but still sweet yelling, getting closer to him by the second. “I left an artist on the roof! I left an artist on the roof! He’s an artist! If he falls off the roof and finds himself hanging from the edge how long is he really gonna last? It’s not like he needs a ton of upper arm strength to be an artist!”

Nathanael breathed a sigh of relief as Queen Bee came into view. She flew up to him and landed next to him on the roof. She didn’t apologize for almost forgetting him on the roof all night, but she did look like she felt kind of bad about it as she shifted her weight awkwardly from foot to foot.

“So… um… I should probably take you home now,” she said after a long moment of silence.

Nathanael nodded slowly. “Yeah. My mom’s probably worried about me by now.”

Queen Bee nodded quickly and motioned for Nathanael to stand up. Nathanael shook his head quickly, his eyes going wide with terror as he continued to hold onto the roof.

“Seriously?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips, and for a second, she almost reminded Nathanael of someone else, but he couldn’t quite think who it was.

Then she bent down and grabbed Nathanael’s arm, yanking him to his feet before she picked him again.

Nathanael blushed bright red. Queen Bee didn’t seem to notice as she flew off.

They flew in silence. Queen Bee apparently didn’t feel the need to talk to him, and Nathanael was too embarrassed and nervous to talk.

She landed outside his house and set him down on his own front porch.

She turned like she was about to leave. “Wait,” Nathanael said quickly. “I didn’t thank you for saving m… my life. You were… really awesome out there.”

She frowned. “Yeah. The part where I almost left you on a roof was especially awesome.”

Nathanael looked down. “We… well you had a lot of your m… mind. And you came back for me eventually, so…” His voice trailed off.

“I wasn’t…” she started to say. Then she stopped. “Don’t thank me. As far as I’m concerned, you can come with me any time. You made excellent bait.”

Nathanael glanced up at her, blushing even though that he didn’t actually think that was a good thing. “Um… yeah. I’m glad… I could help you cause you’re perfect.” He realized what he had just said and immediately his face flamed.

Queen Bee smiled slightly, looking at him with a strange glint in her eyes that Nathanael didn’t understand. She leaned towards him. “Your face is pretty much the same color as your hair right now.” 

Nathanael’s face got hotter, and her smile got wider.

She stepped toward him and put one hand on her shoulder, leaning in until her lips brushed lightly against his cheek. Then she turned around, said something Nathanael’s brain absolutely refused to process and flew off into the night.

Nathanael stood on his porch for a couple of minutes, trying to remember how to move. And breathe.

Finally, he went back in, letting his mom know that he was home safe and headed upstairs.

He grabbed his phone and pulled up Chloe’s cell phone number.

He wouldn’t even have had her cell phone number, except that Chloe had a habit of sending mean texts about people to the whole class.

He shook his head as he typed out the text, barely able to believe he was really doing what he was doing. 

Hey, Chloe, just making sure you made it home safely.

After you ditched me when a bunch of shadow creatures attacked us, he added to himself.

He started sketching while he waited for Chloe to text him back, probably with something rude.

She didn’t text him back for a while. He sketched for a while as he waited impatiently, trying to tell himself he wasn’t worried about Chloe even though he definitely was. Then another thought occurred to him and he stopped, frowning to himself as he tried to figure it out.

How in the world had Queen Bee known where he lived?

He stared at the wall, contemplating that particular mystery when his cell phone buzzed with a text from Chloe.

No thx to you Tomatohead, was all she had said.

Nathanael frowned, irritated, and sent a reply before he had a chance to chicken out of it.

Funny. I was going to say the same thing about you.


	10. Ladybug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert. There's definitely a season two spoiler in this chapter

Queen Bee would not stop staring at herself.

Every time they passed a reflective surface, she would stop and gape at her own reflection until Ladybug went back and grabbed her.

‘Why am I on patrol with Chloe?’ Ladybug asked herself.

‘Because three nights ago the shadow creatures started focusing on her and Rena Rogue instead of you and they almost got killed so you won’t let them patrol alone anymore. Because you didn’t think it was a good idea to send them out together. Because you made Chat take Chloe out the last two nights in a row and it’s going to cause problems with your team if you keep doing that,’ Tikki said.

‘I know, I know. It was a rhetorical question,’ Ladybug answered as she grabbed Queen Bee’s wrist and pulled her away from the window she was staring at. ‘I just can’t believe that of all the people in Paris, I got stuck with Chloe.’

‘Be nice, Marinette,” Tikki said. ‘You know she can’t see her own reflection or show up in pictures when she’s Chloe. She’s probably just excited.’

Queen Bee’s head turned as they walked past another window. “Stop looking!” Ladybug snapped. “I get that you can’t normally see your own reflection, but…”

“That’s not the problem,” Queen Bee said. “Look at me! I don’t even look like myself! You can barely see my face at all, and I look like a walking ray of sunshine. Literally everyone who has seen me in the last week has told me I was sweet or perfect or compared me to sunshine or called me a cupcake. No one’s taking me seriously anymore and now I understand. Look at my face! Listen to my voice! No wonder they all think I’m a pushover!”

Ladybug rolled her eyes at Queen Bee’s panic. “No one thinks you’re a pushover, Queen Bee. They’re just treating you differently as Queen Bee than they do when you’re Chloe because they see Queen Bee differently than they see Chloe. Chloe is a spo… the daughter of the mayor of Paris. They have to do what she wants or risk making him angry. Queen Bee is a hero. They know that we’re here to protect them, and they love us for that. Mostly. They don’t think she’s a pushover. The fight last night proved that to anyone who wasn’t already convinced. But they think of her as selfless. And you do have to be selfless when you’re Queen Bee. You have to realize that what you do as Queen Bee has to be about Paris. Not about you.”

“Yeah, I don’t need the lecture,” Queen Bee said.

Ladybug knew she meant that in a snotty way. She knew it. But it didn’t sound snotty. Queen Bee’s sweet expression and soft voice took all the snottiness out of the statement, making it sound like a simple state of fact. Like Queen Bee was simply saying that she already knew she had to be selfless, that she was already trying to be selfless. It made it impossible to be offended or angry at her, and that in and of itself kind of made Ladybug want to hit her.

She resisted that impulse, but fully intended to call Queen Bee out on her snottiness.

She didn’t get the chance before they heard the growling coming from around the corner.

They turned to see shadow creatures approaching. There were only ten of them this time, but they had six possessed humans with them, and two of those possessed humans were flying.

Ladybug groaned. She hated it when they could fly. Sure, she could fly, but it was always easier when that was an advantage she had over them, and not something they could do too.

“I’ll distract the creatures,” Queen Bee said, surprising Ladybug. “You take care of the possessed humans first. That should make it easier to beat the vampires. And we know they’ll be focused on me anyway, since I’m the newbie and they think that’ll make me easier to take out.”

“We’re not doing that! It’s too dangerous!” Ladybug said.

Queen Bee smirked at her. “Honey, you may be a Lady, but I’m a Queen. You are not the boss of me.”

She flew toward them faster than Ladybug ever could have.

Ladybug scowled furiously at Queen Bee’s back and took off after her.

Queen Bee plowed through the creatures and possessed humans like they were bowling pins. She’d gotten better at taking other people out with her kamikaze dives without taking herself down too. Then she kept going, slowing down as she shot past the creatures, making it look like she’d winded herself and would be easy to catch. The creatures rose and chased after her. The possessed humans started to as well, but Ladybug didn’t give them a chance, hurling out chains and roping all six of them at once.

Which created a couple of problems. Ladybug didn’t know how long she could hold six of them, and she couldn’t cure them without releasing her chains. Plus, as long as she was holding them back, she wouldn’t be able to help Queen Bee.

So she had to fight them, and just hope Queen Bee would be okay until Ladybug went after her.

She yanked the two flying humans down, figuring she should take them out first, since they had the best odds of escaping and causing problems.

The possessed humans tried to pull away, but Ladybug wasn’t having that. She started fighting, grateful that the possessed humans were not nearly as strong or fast as the creatures were.

She tried not to worry about Queen Bee. Queen Bee was a stunningly good fighter, and she was definitely faster than any of the creatures chasing her were. She was faster than anyone, at least as far as Ladybug knew.

She fought until the last possessed human collapsed unconscious on the ground. Then she dissolved the chains and healed all six of them.

Now she had to go after Chloe, even though she was already tired and doubted she would be able to help as much as she normally would have been able to.

But she didn’t move more than two feet from the now un-possessed humans before she saw Queen Bee shoot around the corner, coming back toward Ladybug, the creatures still hot on her tail, Rena Rogue and Chat hot on theirs, and four more creatures chasing them.

Queen Bee landed close to Ladybug and turned to face the creatures. “Fourteen of them, four of us. Shouldn’t take long to beat them, right?”

Ladybug met Queen bee’s wide smile with a scowl. “You need to start listening to me.”

Queen Bee met her eyes, and for a second, Queen Bee’s eyes seemed nothing like honey and everything like steel. “Not until you start trusting me. And Rena Rogue.”

Ladybug didn’t have a chance to answer before the creatures were on them.

Ladybug flipped one creature over her shoulder. Queen Bee ducked as a different one swiped at her.

More creatures came at them, mostly at Queen Bee. Ladybug settled for kicking and hitting and roping the creatures, trying to keep them from reaching Queen Bee.

Chat and Rena Rogue were trying their best to work their way toward them, but the shadow creatures were almost as intent on killing Rena Rogue as they were on killing Queen Bee, so their progress was slow.

One of the creatures slipped by Ladybug, heading for Queen Bee. She rolled her eyes and flew into the air. The shadow creature shot through where she had been and crashed into the ground. Queen Bee dropped like a rock, landing with her spiky heels on the creatures back. It howled in pain.

“Do we really have to do this every night?” Queen Bee asked. “Why can’t it be, like every other night or something?”

Ladybug shot her an annoyed look as she used her chains to lasso Chat’s ankles. She spun in a wide circle. Chat screamed at the top of his lungs as he flew through the air, liquid streaming from his claws and shredding through four of the shadow creatures. The others back up quickly. “Yes, we have to do this every night until we beat Papillion, and we can’t do that until we find him,” Ladybug said. She dropped Chat Noir and lassoed Rena Rogue instead. Rena Rogue screamed as Ladybug threw her at a shadow creature that started climbing a nearby building, probably to try and find another civilian to possess.

Rena Rogue punched the shadow creature in the face and glared at Ladybug. “Why are you throwing me? Can’t you just tell me which shadow creature to attack instead of me chucking me at them?”

Chat kicked a shadow creature in the stomach. “I’m just glad I’m not the only person she’s throwing around anymore.”

Queen Bee frowned as she buzzed her wings so she could lift both of her feet off the ground and smash them into a shadow creature’s face. “Why aren’t you throwing me around too? I am not good enough to throw?”

Ladybug growled. “I don’t throw you around because for one thing, you throw yourself around just fine, and two…”

She turned and whipped one of her chains at Queen Bee. Queen Bee grabbed a shadow creature and pulled it in front of her so that Ladybug’s chain wrapped around it instead.

Ladybug yanked on the chain, dragging the creature toward her so she could kick it.

“And two?” Queen Bee asked, dodging another shadow creature.

Ladybug waved her hand at the creature Queen Bee had used a shield as she yanked the feet out from another one. “That was two. You’re faster than they are and you don’t stand still long enough.”

A shadow creature lunged toward Rena Rogue and Queen Bee leapt at it, tackling it to the ground before it could get close to her. Rena Rogue flashed Queen Bee a grin as she hit another shadow creature in the head with a mailbox.

“So if I stood still for long enough, you would throw me too?” Queen Bee asked, rolling away as a creature attempted to stomp on her head.

Ladybug let out an exasperated huff and flipped backwards to avoid an attack.

Queen Bee kicked a creature’s legs out from under it. “That’s not an answer.”

“Yes!” Ladybug snapped, putting a shadow creature in a choke hold. “Yes, if you held still long enough, I would absolutely throw you into a shadow creature or a possessed human.”

Queen Bee stepped out of the way as a creature ran at her and kicked in the back as it barreled past her. “Not gonna do that then.”

Ladybug growled again, roped two shadow creatures and sent them flying at Chat. He slashed through them and sent them melting back into shadows. “If you don’t even want to be thrown then why are you making such a big deal about me not throwing you?”

Queen Bee flipped a shadow creature over her shoulder. “Hey, I just wanted to make sure you knew that I’m part of the team too.” She noticed two more of the shadow creatures coming at her and yelled out to Rena Rogue. “Head’s up, Red!”

She let the creatures grab onto her and then shot off the ground, dragging both of the creatures toward Rena Rogue. Rena Rogue grinned and held the mailbox like it was a baseball bat. Right before they got to her, Queen Bee twisted out of the creatures’ grip and shot into the sky like a comet. Rena Rogue swung the mailbox and smacked the shadow creatures into the wall so hard they melted away into nothingness.

As much as Ladybug didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, it was a pretty good move. From both of them.

“Believe me,” Ladybug said as she used her chains to slam two creatures into each other. “I could never forget.”

Chat slashed through the last shadow and it melted into nothingness. “Papillion can’t keep this up forever. It takes time for them to heal, and he’s sending so many of them after us. What is his goal here?”

“My guess is he’s trying to wear us down. Probably in preparation for a bigger attack,” Ladybug said.

Chat nodded. “Maybe to make things easier for the boss Lila was talking about.”

Ladybug scoffed. “Please. Lila is nothing but a liar. There’s no way Papillion actually has a boss.”

Chat frowned at her. “What good does it do to her to lie about this? I think she really might be telling the truth this time.”

Ladybug glared at him. He had always seen the best in Lila. He was still seeing it now, even though it was pretty clear it wasn’t there. And he sounded exactly like Tikki. But they were both wrong, and Ladybug knew it. “No, she’s not. I guarantee it.”

“I know you’re worried she figured out your secret identity, and I’m sure you’re really stressed about that, but you shouldn’t just assume she’s lying!” Chat protested.

“We need to keep patrolling the city,” Ladybug said coldly. “And we need to get these civilians home safely. We don’t have time to be talking about that liar right now.”

Chat sighed heavily, and Rena Rogue and Queen Bee exchanged glances, but none of them argued with her.

 

Marinette was late to class the next morning. That had been happening a lot the last few months. Actually, if she was being honest with herself, that had happened a lot even before she’d become Ladybug.

And normally, that wouldn’t have been a problem. Or at least not a big one.

But today she swung the door open and froze in place.

Her class was under attack. There were almost as many possessed humans in the class as there were non-possessed ones, and they were all attacking Adrien.

Or trying to, at least. He was using his desk as shield to keep them back, helped by Nino, Chloe, and Sabrina. Madame Bustier had backed the rest of the class up, away from the creatures, standing in between the creatures and the class as a human shield.

Marinette let the door swing shut and sprinted the other direction.

She’d expected at least one possessed human to come after her, but none of them did. It just made it easier for her to transform and leap out a window.

She flew back into her classroom, crashing through the glass and lashing chains around several of the possessed humans before she realized she wasn’t the only hero in the classroom.

Somehow, Rena Rogue had gotten there before her.

Rena Rogue had the strangest expression on her face as she stood in between the students and the creatures, her arms outstretched like she was shielding them, but also stiff and unmoving like a stature. She looked at Ladybug and whispered quietly, which was weird, because Rena Rogue was never quiet. Ever. “Illusions. Illusions. Illusions.”

Ladybug stared at her for a moment. “Uh… okay, then.” She yanked a couple of the humans off of their feet, but then more of them came flying in the window. Now there were more possessed people in the room than un-possessed people. “Are you kidding me?” She looked at Rena Rogue. “I could use some help here.”

“Illusions,” Rena Rogue said again, her voice a little louder now, but no less dazed. “Illusions.”

“Great! Very helpful! Thank you so much for your assistance!” Ladybug said, kicking and pulling on the chains as fast as she could. It was no use. She didn’t think she could beat this many on her own.

Adrien kept trying to edge toward the door, but every time he got close one of the possessed humans would get in his way and try to attack him, and he’d fall back behind the desk. Ladybug expected him to be scared, but he mostly just looked annoyed.

Still, he might be safer if he got out of here. Ladybug launched herself into the air and forced the possessed people to fall back from the door. Adrien was out of it in a second, a couple of the possessed people slipping out after him before Ladybug could stop them. 

Nino tried to follow them, but a bunch of possessed humans tackled Ladybug and she couldn’t stop one of the other ones from launching themselves at Nino.

She grabbed hold of him and Nino yelped. Chloe gave an annoyed growl, lunged forward, and grabbed the back of Nino’s jacket, pulling him away from the possessed human and back behind the desk.

Rena Rogue’s head turned, her eyes following Nino. Then her eyes snapped back to the possessed humans. “Enough,” she said suddenly, her voice loud and focused now. She lifted up her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly.

White smoke appeared out of nowhere, rolling away from Rena Rogue and swallowing the classroom, possessed humans and students and all.

The possessed humans hesitated, and Ladybug saw her chance. She lunged forward going on the offense.

‘No!’ Tikki cried out. ‘Marinette, you have to stay out of the smoke!’

‘We don’t have time!’ Ladybug replied. ‘There are too many of them. We have to act now.’

‘Marinette, wait!’ Tikki said. ‘The smoke...’

But Ladybug was already moving forward, attacking as many of the possessed humans as she could, barely noticing the way Rena Rogue’s eyes widened as she moved into the smoke.


	11. Chloe

“At this point, I think it’s safe to say that Ladybug and her team are in over their heads. While they have done well against groups of shadow creatures, rogue ones still often roam the city for some time before Ladybug and her team find them, often killing and turning someone before they are caught. Papillion’s army continues to grow, and even with four of them, they can only take so many of them on at once.”

“Well, they might be able to do better if the two newbies in the group could figure out how to use their powers. Didn’t both Ladybug and Chat Noir figure out how to use their powers within a day of their first transformations? What is taking these newbies so long? Are we sure they’re really on our side? Maybe they’re just like Volpina and are on Papillion’s side and that’s why they’re not using their powers.”

“Either that, or maybe they’re just not as powerful as Ladybug and Chat Noir on, in which case they’re probably just holding them back. Maybe they should stand down and let the professionals handle it.”

“Do you really think Ladybug and Chat Noir can handle this situation on their own?”

“Honestly, I don’t think they can handle it at all. This city is going to fall to Papillion sooner or later. If these heroes want to protect us, they should be trying to negotiate a surrender, not fighting this losing battle.”

Chloe glared at the T.V. “You idiots. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

But it was on every channel. Paris was losing faith in the heroes and somehow, Queen Bee’s arrival hadn’t helped to restore their confidence. People were starting to panic, starting to think that they would never be safe from Papillion again.

Chloe sighed and headed out of the hotel towards the car waiting to take her to school.

‘Why can’t they just trust us to take care of this?’ Chloe asked Pollen.

Pollen was quiet for a moment. ‘They do have a point. My chosen always have a hard time learning how to use their powers, but Trixx’s normally learn how to use theirs much faster than this. My best guess? She’s probably really scared after what happened with Volpina. It’s probably really hard for her, giving her power to someone else.’

Chloe climbed in the car and leaned her head against her hand. ‘She’s gun shy.’

‘Yeah,’ Pollen agreed.

‘Enough that she doesn’t trust her own chosen? Seriously? What is up with everyone not believing in us? Didn’t they already learn their lesson with Ladybug and Chat Noir?’

‘You guys don’t have a plan to take on Papillion. You have no idea how to find him, and while you are good at fighting the shadow creatures, you haven’t been able to always stop them before someone else got hurt. It’s not that unreasonable that Paris is having a hard time trusting you.’

Chloe pouted. “Whose side are you on anyway?” she asked. She only realized she’d said that out loud when her chauffeur gave her a weird look over his shoulder. She glared at him.

‘I’m on yours, airhead. But if you want Paris on your side, you’re going to have to come up with a better strategy than just taking on the shadow creatures as they come.’

‘Don’t you mean shadow vampires?’ Chloe asked.

‘They’re not vampires.’ Pollen’s thought was so quiet Chloe almost couldn’t hear her, but it was as sure as it was quiet.

‘Oh, please, like you know what they are,’ Chloe said as she climbed out of the car and started walking into the school. Pollen didn’t answer her. ‘Wait a second. Do you know what they are? Even Ladybug wasn’t sure!’

‘It’s not surprising that Tikki might not have recognized it. Or Trixx. And Plagg never pays enough attention to have a clue what’s going on.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Chloe asked, but Pollen was now giving her the silent treatment. Normally, Chloe would have pressed her for more information, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it this time. Sadness was emanating off of Pollen, and if Chloe knew anything about sadness, it was that it could turn to anger very, very quickly.

Chloe walked in to the classroom and walked over to sit down next to Sabrina, pausing for only a second to talk to Alya. “Where’s Marinette? Is she going to be late again? Is she trying to get as much beauty sleep as possible? If you’re really her friend, you should probably tell her that she’s never going to be able to get enough.”

Alya rolled her eyes and stood. “Seriously, Chloe? Don’t you have anything better to do with your time than come up with lame insults.”

Chloe pouted at her. That was a great insult. Alya was just being sulky because she hadn’t come up with it.

Alya stood up and walked out of the classroom, pulling her phone out as she went. Maybe she was going to call Marinette, ask her why she wasn’t at school yet.

The teacher walked in only a moment later. “Alright class, let’s get…”

She didn’t finish the rest of that sentence before the classroom was swarmed by possessed people. They came in through the windows, through the door, almost as many of them as there were other people in the room.

And for some bizarre reason, they all went straight for Chloe.

‘You can’t use your powers!’ Pollen said. ‘Not your shadow powers or your were powers! You can’t let anyone know what you can do!’

Chloe pushed herself out of her chair and ducked as a possessed person swiped at her. ‘Is keeping my secret more important than my life? Because I certainly don’t think so.’

Another possessed person came at her. Chloe braced herself to blow one of her secrets, but the possessed person went down before it got to her as a book bag swung hard into its head.

Adrien stood over the felled possessed person, looking absolutely furious.

More of them came at her, but Adrien was doing a good job of proving that a book bag could in fact be a pretty good weapon.

‘He’s a surprisingly good fighter considering…,’ Pollen said, cutting off suddenly as Adrien dropped his book bag, grabbed a chair and whacked a possessed person in the face with it.

‘His dad has him in fencing and karate, I think. And a model has to be in good form. And I’m sure he’s got a lot of adrenaline in his blood stream right now. I know I sure do.’

‘I’m sure that’s what it is,” Pollen said. Her voice was definitely sarcastic, but Chloe was too busy to ask or try to figure out why.

Adrien must have really made the possessed people angry, because they seemed more focused on him than on Chloe now. He grabbed a desk to try to keep them away from him, his anger fading and replaced by fear now that they were no longer targeting her.

Chloe grabbed the desk and helped him push against them. Sabrina and Nino joined them.

The possessed humans pushed them back, and Chloe was starting to think they’d be goners if she didn’t whip out some vampire powers at least.

Then Fox Face came bursting into the room, knocking into possessed humans and forcing them to back off.

“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” she said, smiling widely. “I wasn’t exactly close by.”

One of them swung at her and Fox Face caught his hand. Then she froze, her eyes widening. “Illusions,” she whispered quietly.

“What? They’re not illusions,” Adrien said. “Illusions don’t hit people.”

Chloe sent him a startled glance. When did he get hit? How had she not seen it? It was probably Pollen’s fault. Pollen had probably been distracting her with her pointless conversation.

‘Don’t blame me for you being an airhead,’ Pollen said. ‘And you need to get out of here so Queen Bee can show up to help.’

‘Do you not see all the possessed people? We need Ladybug, not Queen Bee,’ Chloe said.

Pollen didn’t respond to that, but Chloe didn’t have time to dwell on her silence.

She didn’t have time, because Rena Rogue had frozen, her arms outstretched like she was protecting them all, which was nothing more than a nice thought since she wasn’t moving.

She didn’t have time to worry because the possessed humans were coming after her again.

And then Ladybug came crashing through the window.

She went straight into fight mode, trying a couple of times to get Fox Face to help her and failing miserably. Fox Face just kept saying “illusions” over and over again, like it was the most important word she’d ever said and needed to be repeated many, many times.

Even so, with Ladybug here, Chloe could afford to relax. And she did, except for one part where she had to grab Nino and pull him back before he got himself hurt. That was more heroic than Chloe wanted to be, at least as herself. Especially in front of her classmates. If she had to keep doing stuff like this, someone was going to figure out that she was Queen Bee, and it would probably be Nathanael. And then she’d have to kill him, on the grounds that knowing two of her secrets was just too many.

Or maybe she could just legally gag him into secrecy. That seemed a little less drastic.

Fox Face’s eyes flicked over to Nino. Her expression hardened. “Enough,” she said, her voice so authoritative Chloe honestly expected the possessed humans to immediately freeze, so much so that she was actually really surprised when they didn’t.

Smoke poured off of Fox Face, filling up the room.

‘Stay out of the smoke!’ Pollen said, her mental tone far louder than it normally was.

There was no time to get to the door, so Chloe responded to Pollen’s panicked warning by climbing the nearest object. Which happened to be Nino.

“Chloe!” Nino protested as Chloe grabbed his face to pull herself onto his shoulders. “Chloe, stop!”

“Get out of the smoke!” she yelled at him. “Get out of the smoke now, Nino!” She grabbed his head and turned it, pointing Nino away from Fox Face. “Get out of the smoke!”

Nino stumbled away from the smoke. “Hey! Easy on the face, Chloe.”

He ran into the teacher’s desk, and Chloe noticed that the smoke wasn’t rising higher than the desk. She scrambled off of Nino and onto the desk. He climbed up on the desk after her, clearly trying to get away from the smoke himself.

All of the other students were panicking as well, trying to get out of the smoke, but as it rose higher, their panic faded and they stopped scrambling away from it, still on the ground but no longer looking as terrified, their eyes locking on Fox Face.

Ladybug was fighting against the possessed humans, plunged into the smoke as it swallowed her. Fox Face stared at her for a moment, her eyes wide.

‘She’s an idiot,’ Pollen said. ‘I expected so much better of Ladybug.’

‘What do you mean?’ Chloe asked. ‘What’s going on?’

Pollen didn’t answer, but Chloe could still feel her irritation at Ladybug.

Fox Face stepped forward and put a hand on Ladybug’s arm. “Stop,” she said, her voice gentle. “I got this. Just hold still for a minute. And get ready to cure them all.”

Ladybug gave her a startled look. “I’m not going to just…”

Rena met her eyes steadily. “Trust me, Ladybug. I’ve got this one.” Her voice was full of more confidence and strength than Chloe had ever heard in anyone’s voice before, not even her father’s.

Ladybug stared at her dumbfounded for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Alright.”

She shifted out of a fighting stance, leaning back on her heels, and looking curiously, and maybe just a little suspiciously at Fox Face.

Fox Face turned to one of the possessed humans and looked at them with a wide, cunning smile that made it incredibly obvious she had a trick up her sleeve. “I know you’re watching us right now, Papillion. And there’s something I didn’t understand before that I think you should know.”

She stopped for a second and looked at Ladybug, her smile softening just a little. Ladybug looked bewildered by the change. Rena Rogue looked back at the possessed person. “Lila never understood her own power. She never realized that she was capable of doing so much more than casting some illusions. She didn’t realize that the best powers being a fox gives you is the ability to see through the illusions and the lies and the acts that people put on. And that’s a pity, Papillion, because you’ve been putting on a lot of illusions and telling a lot of lies, and Paris could have really used someone calling you out on them sooner.”

Nino pulled out his phone and started filming.

The possessed human scowled at her and spoke in a voice that could not possibly have belonged to the young woman it was coming out of. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m taking over Paris. There’s no lie there.”

Rena Rogue shook her head. “You’ve managed to convince all of Paris that it’s your vampires against us heroes. That there’s a ton of people on your side, and only four on ours. And they’ve gotten scared, and who blames them, with odds like those? But those aren’t the odds. It’s not your group against the four of us. It’s you against all of Paris. These people that you’ve possessed or turned aren’t your allies. They’re your puppets. And even though you control them, they’re still on our side. They’re still with us and not with you.”

As she spoke, Chloe could see the threads, dark strings of power lashed around the possessed people’s limbs, moving them like marionettes no matter how hard they pulled against the threads. She’d always known they were being controlled, of course, but being able to see it made it feel so much more real.

‘What is going on?’ Chloe asked Pollen.

Pollen’s voice practically hummed with happiness when she spoke. ‘She’s using her power over illusions to show the truth instead of a lie. To help everybody see straight through all the charades the way she can. Trixx’s powers have always been stronger when they’re used like this than when they’re being used to simply create lies.’

The possessed people’s expressions changed, shifting from blank and uncaring to terrified. Only the girl who was speaking kept the same expression on her face, but like the others, she was clearly still fighting against the threads. “It doesn’t matter if they’re my allies or my puppets. There are still more of them than there are of you. And you can die. My turned beings cannot. The odds are still on my side.”

His voice was dark and creepy and impossible to doubt. How could anyone stand up to someone like him? They were crazy for trying to fight him. Chloe couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen that before.

She could tell from the expressions on everyone else’s faces that she wasn’t the only one thinking that.

Rena Rogue threw back her head and laughed like that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. “How can you be so stupid? Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter if we fall. It doesn’t matter if we can’t beat you. Someone will do it. You really think we’re the only people in Paris capable of being heroes? We’re not even the only people in this room.” She paused for just a moment. “You should know that. You’ve controlled many of them. You know how they fought you. You know that how they refused to hurt the people they care about.”

Ivan got to his feet, standing like he was braced for a fight as he glared at the girl who had spoken with Papillion’s face. He was towering and powerful and defiant and fearless in a way Chloe didn’t remember him being before. How had she never seen his strength before?

The girl returned his glare and Mylene shot forward, throwing herself in between Ivan and the girl. It was a ridiculous sight, not only because Mylene’s small size did nothing to conceal Ivan’s massive frame, but also because of the terrified expression on her face. And yet, her expression was just as determined as it was scared, and Chloe couldn’t shake the feeling that if the possessed girl, with all her added strength and speed attacked Mylene right now, Mylene would win.

Ivan put his hand on Mylene’s shoulder, and Chloe suddenly knew that with both of them standing, they could absolutely do anything.

Rena Rogue kept talking. “You know how hard you had to work to make them fight your battle for you, because they just wanted to be there for the people they cared about.”

Nathanael stepped forward to stand beside Ivan and Mylene, his eyes scanning the possessed humans, lingering for just a second on Rena Rogue and Ladybug before they landed on Chloe.

He locked gazes with her, and Chloe’s breath caught in her throat, only one thought in her brain: that Nathanael couldn’t possibly be as beautiful as he looked right then. He couldn’t be. She might have missed Ivan’s strength and Mylene’s determination, but she absolutely would have seen that.

Rena Rogue kept going, as if Chloe’s world wasn’t crashing down around her, shattering into thousands of little itty-bitty pieces that would never go back into the places they were supposed to be. “But what you don’t know about them is even more important. They are so much smarter…”

Max stood, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the people. Sabrina stood too, her mouth twisting into a smile Chloe didn’t understand.

“And stronger…”

Kim stood up beside Max, his chest puffing out as he looked at the possessed people with outrageous amounts of confidence. Alix stood on the other side of Kim, her grin almost as confident as his.

“And just plain better than you could ever understand,” Rena Rogue said. The rest of the class got to their feet as well, except for Madame Bustier, who was already standing, her arms still outstretched to protect her students the way they’d been before the smoke.

Almost every student in the smoke was different now. Strength poured off of them, their expressions determined and confident and fearless. The only one who seemed completely unchanged was Rose. She yelped when the possessed girl’s glare turned on her. Juleka held one arm out in front of Rose and Rose cowered behind her. Juleka met the possessed girl’s glare with a soft smile, and the girl looked away from her.

Rena Rogue didn’t turn around, didn’t look at the class standing behind her, but Chloe was sure she knew they were there anyway. She smiled at the possessed girl. “And that’s just in this room. Imagine how many people they are like this in all of Paris. There are too many heroes in Paris, Papillion. Too many people who just need the means to fight you to beat you. For anyone you actually you actually manage to beat, there will just be more. You can’t win. And you and I both know that you’re pushing yourself as far as you can, controlling so many people at once. Sending so many creatures after us every night? You’re pushing yourself to your limit, and I give you my personal guarantee that we’re going to force you to push yourself further. And once you wear yourself down, Papillion, we’re going to find you. And we’re going to take back Paris, because this is our city. And it will never be yours.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not the only one pushing myself to my limit.”

Chloe wondered what Papillion was talking about. Then Rena Rogue started to collapse.

Ladybug caught her and the smoke faded away. The possessed humans’ strings faded away, their expressions going back to blank. “Easy, Rena,” Ladybug said. “Using your powers is always exhausting at first, and you did a lot.”

“Couldn’t hold it,” Rena Rogue gasped. “I couldn’t keep it going.” She held a hand to her forward as she struggled to breathe.

“It’s okay,” Ladybug said. “You’re not alone. I’ve got this.”

“We’ve got this,” a voice said. Chat Noir flipped in through the window, looking at Ladybug with a wide smile. “Sorry I’m late. Had to wait for the smoke to clear.” He scanned the room. “That’s a lot of possessed people. At least there are three of us now.”

Kim stepped forward. “There are a lot more than three of us.”

The rest of the class nodded in agreement, returning the possessed people’s glares with glares of their own as they braced themselves for a fight.


	12. Chloe

Ladybug’s eyes widened as she looked at the class. “What? No! You have to stay back so you don’t get hurt!”

Chloe jumped off the desk and glared at Ladybug. “Don’t be ridiculous. Like Re… Rena Rogue said. It’s not you guys against them. It’s all of Paris against Papillion.” She shifted her glare to the nearest possessed human. “We can help you.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Ladybug said, looking at Chloe like she’d betrayed her. “I can’t let civilians fight.”

“Were you not paying attention when Rena Rogue was using her powers? They can handle it. You’re not the only hero in Paris, Ladybug,” Chloe said.

She expected Ladybug to glare at her when she said that, but Ladybug mostly just seemed surprised.

“Got that right!” Kim said. He moved forward. “Come on! Which of you wimps is gonna take me on, huh?”

Three possessed humans lunged for him. Kim yelped and scrambled backwards as Ladybug wrapped her chains around the ankles of two of them, yanking them away from Kim. She moved like she was going to rope the last one, but Alix got there first, swinging her skate hard into the possessed person’s head.

Apparently, like book bags, roller blades made surprisingly dangerous weapons.

‘When did she even have time to grab her roller blade?’ Chloe asked. Pollen didn’t answer.

Kim grinned. “Man, you guys are stupid. I was just the distraction. And a very great one, if I may say so myself.” Alix muttered something under her breath as Kim looked at Max. “That was a good plan.”

‘When did they have time to come up with a plan? How did they communicate it without someone noticing?’ Chloe asked. Pollen still didn’t answer, but Chloe could feel her glee.

Max pushed his glasses up. “Of course it was. Its odds of success were…”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before the rest of the possessed people decided to restart the fight and everything descended into chaos.

Chloe dropped to the ground like a rock and crawled on the floor under a desk, and grabbed the leg of one possessed person, pulling hard and bringing him to his knees right before he had a chance to grab Sabrina.

Ivan hit a possessed person with a chair. Another one came up from behind him, but Mylene climbed on a table and jumped on its back, looking absolutely terrified as she locked her arms around its neck and held on for dear life.

“Mylene!” Ivan cried out, sounding worried.

Great, Chloe thought to herself as she climbed under the desks, heading toward Mylene. She’d stuck up for her classmates to Ladybug, and now stupid Mylene was putting herself in danger.

The possessed human grabbed Mylene like she was going to throw her. Chloe grabbed her leg and sank her fangs into it. The possessed human yelped in surprise and pain and Mylene dropped off of her and ran back to Ivan.

Chloe pulled back under the table and crawled away from them before any of her classmates could notice her there. She did not want to deal with the embarrassment of her classmates knowing she’d just bitten someone’s leg. It was such a gross, peasant thing to do, but it wasn’t like she’d had a better option.

She crawled out from under the desk in the back of the classroom and glanced up to see Nathanael look at her and raise his eyebrows. He mimed biting someone and gave her a look like “really?”

She made a face at him, asking him what else she was supposed to have done without actually saying the words.

He flashed her a surprisingly wide smile. Then a possessed human came after him.

Nathanael backed up fast and Chloe got to her feet, ready to charge in and get the possessed girl away from Nathanael.

‘Don’t,’ Pollen said. ‘Let him handle this.’

‘What’s he going to do, draw on her?’ Chloe asked.

‘I think you’ll find he has more talents than just being a good artist.’

Nathanael narrowly dodged a punch from the girl and grinned. Grinned, like her trying to hit him was a good thing. “You’re stronger now than you used to be. And faster. And if I’m not mistaken, you’re one of the ones with the ability to fly. I know you think Papillion can give you whatever you want, but you’re stronger now than you were before. Why don’t why you just go get it yourself? Why do what he says?”

The girl froze, her eyes widening as she stared at Nathanael. “But… but he’ll take my power away if I don’t do what he wants.”

Nathanael’s grin widened. “Really? He’s never done it before. Only Ladybug has.”

The girl blinked a couple of times. “I can’t just… fight him.”

“You already are,” Nathanael said. “You’re not attacking me. And it’s not surprising. The hardest part of fighting him is realizing that he’s controlling you, that you’re not really on his side the way you feel like you are, and thanks to Rena Rogue, you already know that. And really, if you have powers, why not be a hero instead of a villain? Just think about the people you love. Papillion will tell you he’ll keep them safe, but he won’t. I think deep down you probably know that. Just like I think deep down, you don’t want to hurt anyone. So don’t. Don’t let him change you like that.”

The girl stared at him. “I… I don’t think I can stop.” She shook like she was in pain. “I want to, but I can’t.”

“Ladybug!” Nathanael yelled.

Ladybug turned and looked at the girl standing frozen in front of Nathanael and her eyes widened. One of her chains dissolved, the red bubbles flooding the girl. Her skin changed back from blue and she started to fall forward, but Nathanael caught her and steadied her.

He smiled at her. “You did such a good job of fighting Papillion. That was amazing,” he said, his voice kind and soft.

She looked up at him and smiled weakly. “Thank you for helping me. It was like you could read my mind. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

For a second, they just stood there, smiling at each other.

For some reason, that kind of made Chloe want to throttle her.

“I didn’t even know you could cure someone while they were still conscious,” Chat remarked.

“I can’t normally. But she was already fighting it pretty hard, so it was easier to cure her,” Ladybug said. “At least now we know that’s possible.”

A possessed human took a step towards Nathanael and Chloe ran forward, grabbing the back of Nathanael’s shirt and pulling him away from the possessed human, inadvertently pulling him away from the girl he’d been holding up as well.

She collapsed to her knees as the possessed human moved toward her. A black staff came spinning in out of nowhere and knocked him out cold.

Another possessed person approached from the other side and Chloe reacted instinctively, dragging Nathanael in between her and the person coming at her.

Nathanael yelped loudly. “Hey! Don’t use me as a shield.”

Chloe felt her face heat up. She hadn’t really meant to use him a shield, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Just think of it like payback for last week.”

“What? This is not the same thing at all!” Nathanael protested.

She pulled him closer to her as the human got closer. A quick glance around told the rest of her classmates were distracted, not watching her.

So as they got closer, Chloe twisted, moving Nathanael away from the human and kicking the possessed person in the stomach, sending them tumbling down to the front of the room. Ladybug saw them fall and without hesitation dissolved another one of her chains to free them from Papillion’s control.

Another possessed human leapt towards Nino. Chat threw his staff like a spear and took him out, but then there was another one coming towards him.

Rena Rogue put her fingers in her mouth and whistled again, and suddenly there were eight Ninos in the room. “Yeah, that’s cool and all,” Rena Rogue said. “But I still like stripping illusions away better than creating them.”

All eight Ninos grinned and ran around the room yelling about how there were so many Ninos now, and clearly causing the possessed humans a fair amount of confusion.

“No!” Chloe yelled, glaring at Rena Rogue. “That is too many Ninos. You can’t have this many Ninos. Put some of them back!”

“Put them back where?” Rena Rogue asked. “It’s not like I grabbed them off the shelf at the grocery store.”

“Oh, come on, Chloe,” the nearest Nino said, looking mildly offended. “You can never have too many Ninos.”

Chloe didn’t get a chance to respond. The possessed human she’d bitten in the leg came up to her then, and not only did she apparently know Chloe was the one who had bitten her, she apparently also felt the need to return the favor, because she immediately attempted to grab Chloe’s leg and bite it.

“Ew! Don’t bite me! Stay away from me! Nathanael! She’s trying to bite me!” Chloe cried out.

“Why is that my problem?” Nathanael asked.

Chloe glared at him. The possessed human tried to grab for her again and Chloe shrieked and jumped on Nathanael’s back, throwing her arms around his neck. “Ew! You get away from me! Nathanael, get me away from her!”

“Aah! Get off of me, Chloe!” Nathanael said. “I told you before, you’re heavy!”

“Don’t call me heavy!” Chloe snapped at him, attempting to push the possessed girl away with her foot.

That was a mistake. The girl grabbed her leg and tried to bite it again.

Chat pulled her off Chloe before she could. He sent Chloe a knowing smile, though Chloe couldn’t imagine what he thought he knew.

“Get off me, Chloe!” Nathanael said again.

Chloe ignored him, watching as Chat literally threw the possessed girl into the air, yelling “Ladybug, catch!” and then dove forward to pull a possessed human away from Juleka.

Why’d he look at me like that? Chloe wondered to herself.

But Pollen apparently thought it was a question meant for her and felt the need to answer it. ‘I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you’re literally draped over Nathanael.’

Chloe glanced at Nathanael’s back. ‘So what?’

‘Maybe he thinks it means that you have a crush on him or something. Which I would say is a pretty astute observation, because you clearly do have a crush on him,’ Pollen said.

Chloe frowned. ‘I do not. That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I do not have a crush on Tomatohead. That isn’t even possible.’

‘Sure. Go into denial about it. That’ll make it not true.’

‘I don’t!’

‘Let go of him then.’

“Let go of me, Chloe!” Nathanael said. “Why are you hanging on me anyway? If you’re going to hang on somebody, hang off of Kim! Or Nino again!”

“What? Don’t sick her on me,” Nino said. The other seven had disappeared, so he must be the real one.

Chloe glared at him. “Don’t be so rude! And I’m not letting go until Ladybug gets rid of all of these creepy possessed people.”

“In what way does holding onto me help you?” Nathanael demanded.

“Just shut up and keep me away from them,” Chloe ordered him.

Nathanael glared at her over his shoulder.

‘You know what, Chloe? You’re right. You definitely don’t have a crush on him. Clearly, you don’t like him at all, and that’s why you won’t get off his back,’ Pollen said.

‘Oh shut up,’ Chloe snapped back.

Nathanael grabbed her arms in one final attempt to get her off of him, but Chloe wasn’t budging. These people with the blue skin and hair and the blank expressions and the tendency to bite people who had bitten them first were really starting to get to her, and she couldn’t fight them back for real without outing one of her own secrets.

When that attempt failed, Nathanael finally stopped telling Chloe to get off of him, settling for sulking instead.

But it didn’t take too long for the last possessed humans to be cured, and Ladybug, Rena Rogue, and Chat took off. The students who had left finally returned, and then Madame Bustier simply started the class as if nothing had happened.

People never took possessed human attacks as seriously as shadow creature attack. Which made sense. Possessed humans were easier to defeat and as far as Chloe knew, they’d never actually killed anyone.

Class was boring compared to a morning spent with the entire class fighting possessed people, but it was also short, so sitting through it only drove Chloe a little insane.

For once, Chloe wasn’t the first one out the door after class. Instead, she hung back, watching her classmates file out of the classroom.

They all seemed back to normal. The strength and courage and ferocity that had emanated off of them earlier was gone, and while Chloe couldn’t exactly forget what she’d seen in them, she certainly couldn’t see them the same way she had in the smoke.

The only exception was Nathanael. He didn’t speak during class. His hair still fell in his face. He still slunk out as soon as class was over like he didn’t want to be seen.

But Chloe couldn’t help but see him exactly how she’d seen him in the smoke, every time she looked at him.

She got out of her seat and ran out after him. “Nathanael!”

He turned when she called his name, seeming neither surprised nor pleased to find her running after him.

“Are you going to draw me again after school today?” Chloe asked him, wondering why her heart was pounding so much. It wasn’t like she’d run that fast.

Nathanael frowned and folded his arms. “No.”

Chloe blinked in surprise. “What? Why not?”

He sighed heavily. “Because I’ve already drawn you four times in the last week, that’s why. I told you I wasn’t going to draw you every day, and I’m honestly not okay with drawing you every other day, either.”

Chloe pouted at him. “Oh, come on.”

“No!” Nathanael said again. “That’s my final answer.”

Chloe opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when her head stopped spinning. She must not have eaten enough honey this morning, because she was feeling really lightheaded.

She grabbed her head and took deep breaths.

“Are you okay?” Sabrina asked, breathing heavily as she came running up behind Chloe.

Nathanael sighed heavily and dug something out of his bag. Then he held out his hand towards Chloe, and she looked up slowly.

He was holding a bottle in his hand. “Here,” he said, looking away from her, clearly annoyed. “It’s honey lemonade. You said you were having problems thinking of excuses to bring honey to school, and then I thought of this, so I figured I’d bring it in case you started acting hungry or something.”

Chloe reached out hesitantly and took the bottle from him, staring at Nathanael with wide eyes.

He turned on his heel and walked away.

Chloe opened her mouth, but she didn’t get a chance to say anything.

“Chloe!” a voice behind her said. She turned and saw Adrien come running up to her. Nino wasn’t anywhere in sight. It was strange to see them separated.

Chloe blinked. “What is it, Adrien?”

Adrien frowned at her. “What do you mean, what is it? Those possessed people this morning were going after you.”

“Oh.” Chloe had forgotten about that. “Well, I’m sure it’s because I’m so pretty and talented. They were probably just jealous. That must have been why they were after me.”

Adrien frowned at her, his eyes narrowing. “Has that been happening a lot lately?”

It had, actually. Chloe could barely leave the house as herself without someone or something attacking her. But Adrien didn’t need to know that. She shook her head. “Of course not. It’s annoying that it happened today, but Ladybug did show up to save me, so I guess it’s okay.” She paused for a second. “I guess Rena Rogue helped. And Chat Noir.”

Adrien blinked in surprise. “Right. But you’ll tell me if it happens again, right?”

Chloe nodded. “Absolutely,” she lied through her teeth.

Adrien frowned like he knew she wasn’t being honest, but he didn’t push it.

 

Something was off about the fight that night.

They’d found a large group of shadows no problem, the biggest one so far, but the shadow creatures showed no interest in attacking them.

Instead they hung back, forming a loose ring around the heroes, clearly interested in hemming them in but not nearly as interested in bringing them down.

The heroes had already tried to start a fight several times. The shadow creatures danced backwards out of any attack they could avoid, and banded together to stop any attack they couldn’t, but they never countered with a move of their own.

“What is going on here?” Rena Rogue asked.

“I don’t know,” Ladybug said. “But I don’t like it.”

“Oh, don’t mind them,” a low, powerful voice said behind her. They all turned to face the voice. A man melted out of the shadows, appearing before them as little more than a shadow. “They’re just here to serve as my honor guard while I come and speak to you.”

“Papillion?” Chat asked disbelievingly. “You came in person.”

“Partially,” the shadow man said, his form flickering slightly. “I had a theory I wanted to test.”

Ladybug growled at him as she summoned more chains, as many as she could hold at once, as Queen Bee knew from the training sessions. “And what theory would that be?”

“I’m so glad you asked,” Papillion said. He extended his hand, and two dark shapes appeared out of nowhere, two shapes that looked almost like bats or…

Queen Bee didn’t have time to process what other thing they might have looked like before the bats came barreling towards them. One flew towards her, one towards Rena Rogue, so fast that even Queen Bee didn’t have a chance to react.

Queen Bee gasped as the dark shape flew into her, disappearing inside of her. Instantly, her whole body was flooded with rage and pain as her brain became muddled and fogged until she was no longer able to think clearly.

She could feel her will, her identity slipping away. Everything was disappearing into what Papillion wanted her to be.

His servant.

But at the same time, her entire being flooded with more strength. She had the power to do anything she wanted, and she was sure Papillion would let her. Was it so bad to be controlled if she could get what she wanted out of it.

She could hear Pollen yelling at her, but she couldn’t tell what she was saying. Chloe was slipping away, leaving nothing but Queen Bee, the servant of Papillion.

Then the words rang in her head.

You’re stronger now than you used to be. And faster. You can fly. I know you think Papillion can give you whatever you want, but you’re stronger now than you were before. Why don’t why you just go get it yourself? Why do what he says?

Queen Bee blinked. Why do what he says?

Her head started to clear, and she could hear other voices again, besides the voice of Papillion in her head, screaming at her to do as she was told.

“Queen Bee! Rena Rogue! Are you guys okay?” Chat Noir yelled.

He sounded worried. Queen Bee hated him. He was so useless all the time. Paris would be better off without him.

“I’m okay,” Rena Rogue said weakly.

Queen Bee hated her too. She may have gotten her powers today, but she still wasn’t good enough for Paris. She still couldn’t do anything to protect Paris. She was useless and weak, and she only ever got in Queen Bee’s way.

“What about you, Queen Bee?” Ladybug asked.

Queen Bee hated her most of all. Ladybug had never trusted her. She had never believed in her. She’d just been waiting for Queen Bee to fail so she could save the day and get all of the glory for herself.

Glory that rightfully belonged to Papillion.

Queen Bee frowned, the thought snapping her out of the last of the stupor she’d been in. The glory didn’t belong to Papillion. Nothing belonged to Papillion.

And yet, even with her mind clear, she didn’t seem to be able to move. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to move until he ordered her to, and that wasn’t okay with Queen Bee.

Papillion spoke then, sounding pleased. “It looks like I was right. I am able to control anyone who has not manage to use their powers yet, even if they can transform. A pity I was not here in time to get control of Rena Rogue as well, but Queen Bee should do nicely.”

‘You think you can control me, Papillion?’ Pollen roared, her mental voice many times louder than Queen Bee had ever heard it before. ‘You think you can control Queen Bee? You are so very, very wrong. Fight me for control, and you will regret it.’

Queen Bee’s mind snapped in on itself. Papillion thought he could give her orders.

Clearly, he didn’t know who she was. He didn’t know anything.

Queen Bee took a shaky breath in and looked at Papillion with a glare. His shadow smiled back at her. “Look at your skin. It seems I can control you.”

Queen Bee couldn’t see her skin. Her whole body was covered in cloth, except her face, which she of course could not see. But she didn’t need to see it to know what he was saying. The possession had worked. She was one of his puppets.

At least, that was what he thought.

“Queen Bee?” Chat asked tentatively. “Are you still in there?”

She didn’t look at him while she spoke, keeping her eyes on Papillion’s triumphant smile. “Paris is full of heroes now. It should be led by someone with powers. It should be led by someone with the strength to rule a city. And let’s face it. That’s not the mayor. He can’t handle what Paris has become.”

“Queen Bee!” Rena Rogue sounded shocked. “You can’t just hand the city over to Papillion.”

“She can and she will!” Papillion said. “It is my right to rule Paris!”

Queen Bee met his eyes and smiled. He smiled back at her. “But my dear Papillion,” Queen Bee said in her sweetest voice. “I wasn’t talking about you.”

His smile faded. He stared at her with wide eyes. “What?

She met Papillion’s eyes and smiled wider, taking a step forward and watching his eyes widen more. “You wanted to fight me for control, didn’t you, Papillion? You have already lost the fight to control me. Now it is simply a fight to control Paris, and I will win it, and you will die. Because you see, Papillion, Paris belongs to me. You’re just a pathetic shadow. I am a queen, and the entire city will kneel before me.” She tilted her head. “For my first order of business as Queen of Paris, I think I’ll thank you, for the amount of power you’ve just given me. How shall I repay you for your generosity? Oh, I know. I’ll rip out your throat, and leave you bleeding on the ground?”


	13. Adrien

Adrien had been pacing all night. Worrying. Asking himself what he could have done differently. What he could have done to keep Queen Bee from leaving. What he could have done to keep from losing Queen Bee.

No, not Queen Bee. Chloe. He’d lost Chloe.

He dragged his fingers through his hair, images and voices flying through his mind.

“Queen Bee! Let me help you! Let me heal you!”

“Why? You never trusted me. You never believed I could be a hero. Now you can pat yourself on the bet and tell yourself you were right. You should be happy.”

Ladybug’s chains flew towards Queen Bee, not nearly fast enough.

“Chat! Look out! She’s even faster now!”

Queen Bee’s heel had slashed across his face. He’d yelped in surprise and pain when it actually managed to cut him, even though he was transformed. It had healed almost instantly but then her hands had wrapped around his throat.

Rena Rogue grabbed her arm and he’d thought it was over, but the possession must have given more strength than he’d anticipated, because she’d broken free from Rena Rogue without much difficulty. Then she was gone.

“I can’t believe Papillion just ran away from her like that.”

“I can’t believe she ran away from us like that. Why wouldn’t she just let us heal her?”

“Now we’ve got a second supervillain trying to take over the city. Three, if Lila was telling the truth. What are we going to do?”

Adrien paced across the room again. Three supervillains in Paris. And one of them was Chloe. How could that be? Chloe was a lot of things, but a supervillain?

‘Calm down.’ Plagg’s voice spoke in Adrien’s mind, startling Adrien. ‘Master Fu said he was going to help you take care of it, didn’t he?’

Adrien paused for a moment, thinking about that.

Master Fu’s eyes had unfocused when they told him what had happened to Queen Bee. He stared off into the distance for so long Chat had started to wonder if he was still paying attention, or if he’d even heard what they’d told him.

Then he’d finally spoken, and his words were not the advice or warning Chat was expecting. “This is when we need the were-turtle,” he’d said, earning himself startled looks from all three of them. “The turtle is the protector. To keep you safe from your enemies, from each other, and from yourselves. If Queen Bee has become as powerful as you say, it will be difficult to defeat her without the help of the turtle. And if she learns how to use her powers while she’s still evil…” He stopped talking for a long moment. “I’m sorry I cannot help you with this. I cannot transform. I will begin looking for a new were-turtle immediately.”

“What?” Ladybug had asked, sounding panicked. “You can’t do that. You’re the were-turtle.”

“We can no longer afford to have the turtle in the hands of someone who can’t use it,” Master Fu replied, his voice firm and brooking no arguments. “Hopefully I will be able to find one before Queen Bee has a chance to learn how to use her powers.”

Ladybug hadn’t liked that, but she hadn’t argued again. Instead she had frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. “What even are Queen Bee’s abilities?”

Master Fu closed his eyes. “If she learns to use them, make sure she can’t use them on you. What Papillion is doing to Paris is bad enough. What Queen Bee could do to Paris could potentially be even more devastating.”

“Pollen won’t let her do that, though, right?” Chat had asked. “Pollen will stop her from using her powers to hurt Paris, won’t she? I mean, Pollen is a hero, isn’t she?”

Master Fu smiled at him sadly. “In order for Papillion to turn Queen Bee evil, he must have been able to turn Pollen as well. I imagine the desire to take over Paris comes from her far more than it comes from her chosen. So we need to find a new were-turtle as soon as possible.”

Adrien scrubbed his hands through his hair. ‘It’s not easy to find a potential. I mean, there’s always a very real possibility that they won’t wake up. We can’t just go around, risking people’s lives. And I can’t even imagine what someone able to take the turtle that Master Fu has had all these years would even look like.’

‘Probably really boring,’ Plagg said. ‘Wayzz is all serious and responsible and gross all the time. His chosen is probably going to be an extremely boring individual.’

Adrien frowned. Plagg’s tone was very nonchalant, like he wasn’t even worried about Queen Bee being evil, but Adrien could feel the worry bleeding off of him. He wasn’t going to call him out on it though. ‘Master Fu isn’t really boring,’ he said instead.

‘Debatable. And even if he’s not, the next one probably will be.’ Plagg paused for a moment. ‘Trixx’s chosen are usually the most fun, but this one felt like she had to prove herself to Ladybug, and she was getting to be good friends with Queen Bee, so she’ll probably just be a sad sack for a while. Ugh. I guess if we get a new were-turtle and he can help us get Queen Bee back, maybe Rena Rogue would lighten up a little and start being more fun.’

‘We are not saving Queen Bee so that Rena Rogue will start acting in a way you find more entertaining,’ Adrien scolded Plagg. Normally, Plagg’s antics would have helped Adrien loosen up a little, remind him that things weren’t as serious as he was thinking. But this time, he was pretty sure nothing was going to make him feel better.

‘No, we’re saving her before she can take over Paris, blah blah blah,’ Plagg said. ‘The point is, once she’s back on our side, everything will be much more fun.’

Adrien’s alarm went off. He’d officially stayed up the whole night.

He started getting dressed, a thought still nagging in his mind. ‘Hey, Plagg? Do you know what powers Queen Bee has? Master Fu didn’t actually tell us.’

Plagg was silent for so long Adrien thought he wasn’t going to answer him. When he finally did speak, his answer was disappointing to say the least. ‘Honestly, kid, I don’t remember exactly what powers Pollen grants. I remember that her chosen are usually brats and always mean before they came around, but I don’t remember exactly what they could do. And I’ve never seen one be evil before, so I don’t think they’ve ever used their powers on my chosen.’

‘Great, Plagg,’ Adrien said. ‘That’s very helpful.’

Plagg didn’t seem bothered by the sarcasm. ‘I feel like it might have had something to do with communication or something, but I’m not really sure.’

‘Can you tell me anything more specific than that?’ Adrien asked.

‘Not really,’ Plagg said.

‘Again, very helpful,’ Adrien said. He headed downstairs for breakfast and for Nathalie to tell him what his schedule for the day was. Not that he actually heard anything she said. He couldn’t take his mind off of Chloe.

Going to school didn’t help. All he could do was stare at Chloe’s empty seat. He wasn’t hearing any of the fuss the mayor of Paris would have raised if his daughter had just gone missing, so she must have told him something to stop him from worrying about her. He wondered how she’d done that without letting him see her. She wasn’t like Lila. She couldn’t hide the fact that she’d been possessed. Anyone who saw her would know right away.

“Are you okay, girl?” Alya asked, snapping Adrien out of his thoughts. “You’re seriously spacing out. I mean, unless there’s some other reason you keep staring at Chloe’s empty seat.”

“What? Oh, no. I guess I just think it’s weird that she’s not here. She doesn’t stay home very often,” Marinette said.

Adrien was surprised by the concern in her voice. Marinette and Chloe hardly got along. He wouldn’t have expected her to be bothered by Chloe’s absence, but she clearly was.

He looked back at Marinette. He couldn’t let any of his classmates think anything was wrong with Chloe. He had to make sure to keep her cover so that if- when, he told himself seriously- when they saved Queen Bee, Chloe would be able to return to her life without any issues. She’d have enough as Queen Bee if they couldn’t save her before the city of Paris found out that a second superhero had been possessed by Papillion and turned against the city.

So he smiled at her as brightly as he could. “I think I heard something about Chloe having a hair appointment today. I guess it must be an all-day thing. Maybe it didn’t turn out the way she wanted. You know how Chloe gets about her hair.”

Marinette stared at him for a second, her face turning red for some reason he didn’t understand. “Oh, y… yeah. I’m sure that’s exactly what’s going on!” Marinette said brightly, her voice going higher pitched than normal. She laughed nervously. “I mean, that makes such perfect sense. What else could possibly going on with her? I mean, unless she’s sick or something, but you just said that wasn’t what was happening, so obviously…” Marinette cut herself off with more nervous laughter.

Adrien stared at her, thoroughly lost.

Alya squinted at her. “Forget what’s going on with Chloe. What’s going on with you, girl? You are seriously bugging.”

Marinette laughed some more. “What? No, I’m not. I’m being totally normal.”

Adrien glanced at Nino. He looked just as confused as Adrien felt. Marinette often behaved a little strange, but today she was being even weirder than normal.

The teacher walked in then and they all had to stop talking. 

‘We’ve got to do something. Marinette already thinks something’s up with Chloe… I think… and it’s just a matter of time before the rest of the class thinks so too. And if Paris figures out that Queen Bee’s turned evil just like Volpina did, I don’t know how we’ll get them to ever trust us again,’ Adrien said.

‘You worry too much,’ Plagg said, worry emanating off of him again. ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine. Queen Bee said she wanted to take over the city herself, right? If she wants to rule, she won’t let anyone know she’s possessed. It would make Paris think Papillion is ruling no matter what she did. And standing in the shadows letting someone else get the credit? Not Pollen’s style. Or Chloe’s, for that matter.’

‘I hope you’re right about that,’ Adrien said.

‘Of course I am! Don’t worry so much, kid! You’re a superhero. You can handle a childhood friend going temporarily evil.’

‘Right. Because your first friend deciding they want to take over the city is no big deal.’

Plagg didn’t respond to that. Adrien leaned his cheek against his hand and tried to keep his eyes off Chloe’s seat, like the fact that she wasn’t there wasn’t bothering him.

It was toward the end of the school day that Adrien had a very disturbing thought.

‘Hey, Plagg? Do you think when Queen Bee said she was going to fight Papillion for control of Paris, she meant that literally? That she was going to take the fight to him?’

‘Huh? Why do you ask?’ Plagg asked.

Adrien was quiet for a moment. ‘It’s just… I know Chloe. When she wants something, she goes straight to the most powerful person who can get it to her. Usually her father, but sometimes it’s the principal or someone else. I’m sure her idea would be to go straight to Papillion and take out the leader. Does that seem like something Pollen would do?’

Plagg was silent for a second. ‘That sounds exactly like something Pollen would do. She’s the queen bee. Give her a group with a single leader, that’s practically begging for her to overthrow them. But we haven’t found any way to track down Papillion. I don’t know how Queen Bee would do it. And if she can’t find him, she can’t fight him.’

‘That’s true,’ Adrien said.

He went through the rest of his day, school and a shoot and a bunch of lessons struggling to pay attention to his surroundings. He couldn’t stop thinking about Chloe. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that she did intend to take the fight to Papillion. Chloe had all the subtlety of a bulldozer, and the time he’d spent with Queen Bee had convinced him that Pollen must be the same way. No way did Queen Bee’s tendency to throw herself headfirst at shadow creatures come from Chloe.

But if that was her plan, then she had to come up with a way to find Papillion. And there was no way to do that. Sure, it seemed likely that the shadow creatures did fall back to Papillion before morning, but speed alone wouldn’t allow her to follow them. She’d have to find a way to see them after they faded into shadows. Because whether the shadow creatures got too injured to keep fighting and sulked back to Papillion or whether it got too close to morning and they had to run before the sun went up, the shadow creatures always faded back into the shadows before they went back to Papillion…

Except, Adrien realized suddenly, right after they’d fed off of someone. Plenty of witnesses- including Chloe- had stated after the shadow creatures fed off of someone they walked away. Adrien had never seen them do it himself, because he had never stood back and allowed them to attack them someone in front of him before, but if evil Queen Bee did, maybe she’d be able to follow them back to Papillion.

‘You can’t let Queen Bee get anywhere near Papillion. I’m sure the only reason he didn’t take her powers away when she attacked him is because he thinks he’ll be able to take control of her later. If she gets close to him, he’ll probably try taking control of her again. We can’t risk that,’ Plagg said. He was quiet for a moment. ‘Although, I doubt that she’ll go near him until she gets her powers. Fighting Papillion without them would be insane.’

‘So we have however long it takes for her to learn to use her powers to find her and cure her,’ Adrien said.

‘Yeah, as long as Papillion doesn’t send more shadow creatures than the three of you can handle at once,’ Plagg remarked casually.

Adrien froze. The last three weeks had been full of exhausting battles. He thought about how fast Queen Bee was, how many times she had been there in time to save one of them when none of the rest of them could have done it. ‘Do you think we’ll be able to hold our own without her?’

‘No idea,’ Plagg said, not sounding too bothered by that. ‘But Rena Rogue has her powers now. That should help.’

‘Yeah,’ Adrien agreed, thoughts racing through his head.

He kept thinking until he finally got to his room after he’d finished everything else. He looked out the window. It would be dark soon, and it wouldn’t be too long before the shadow creatures came crawling out of the shadows and attacking people.

Something black and yellow flew by his window. Adrien’s eyes widened.

Queen Bee?

He transformed as he ran toward the window, leaping out of it and scaling his wall to the roof. The black and yellow blur had already passed him, heading toward the Eiffel tower. He doubted he’d be able to catch up to her, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying.

He ran as fast as he could, but by the time he got to the Eiffel tower, she was nowhere in sight.

“Queen Bee!” he called out. He leaned against the Eiffel tower, and closed his eyes. “Chloe,” he said. He could hear the worry in his own voice when he spoke. He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t catch her. Ladybug hadn’t been able to catch her. Rena Rogue hadn’t been able to hold her. How were they going to be able to save her.

He heard something coming close to him and opened his eyes just in time to see something black coming very fast at his face. 

He yelped and jerked sideways, just in time for the black boot to breeze past his face without touching him.

Queen Bee stood in front of him, glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest. “Why are you following me, you stupid cat? I’m not part of your pathetic little team anymore. I thought I made that clear.”

“You don’t still want to protect Paris?” Chat Noir demanded. He couldn’t accept that.

Queen Bee smiled at him. It was the sickly sweet smile she’d given when Papillion had possessed her, right before she’d revealed she was not under his control as much as he thought, when she’d offered to kill him and leave him bleeding on the street.

Just like he did to her, Chat realized. That was what exactly what had happened to Chloe, the night she became Queen Bee.

“Only if I get to rule it afterwards,” Queen Bee said. “As I said before, Paris is mine. I will not let Papillion have it, but I will not let you do-gooders let it continue as it is now, either. Paris will be better in the hands of someone stronger than the mayor. And there is no one better for that than me. I am a queen, after all.”

“The mayor? You mean your dad?” Chat asked. “Don’t forget, Chloe, I know who you really are. And this is not you.”

She scowled at him. “You don’t know a thing about me. Well, you may know my name and who my father is, but don’t you pretend to know me. If you did, you’d know why I was doing this.”

“You’re doing this because Papillion has influenced you to do this!” Chat said, getting angry now. “I know you better than this. I’m telling you, if you were in your right mind you wouldn’t be doing any of this! If you were in your right mind, you’d still be protecting Paris, so just stop fighting us already! Let Ladybug heal you and go back to protecting Paris already!”

“I am in my right mind!” Queen Bee snapped. “I finally see everything clearly! I’m not going to waste my time protecting Paris when it’s no benefit to me just because you say that’s what I’m really like! So what if you know my secret identity. You don’t know anything about me!”

Chat had to stop himself from clenching his hands into fists and gouging himself with his claws. “I know why you never talk about your mom.”

Queen Bee stiffened, her eyes widening as she stared at Chat.

Chat took a deep breath in. He would do anything to save Queen Bee. To save Chloe.

‘Adrien! Don’t!’ Plagg cried out.

But Chat didn’t listen. He released the transformation, opening his eyes as the black melted away from him, leaving Adrien standing in front of Queen Bee.

Queen Bee looked like she’d been turned to a stone. For a minute, she stood so still Adrien wasn’t even sure she was breathing.

He took a step towards her and looked her right in the eyes. “I know who you are, Chloe. Probably better than you know yourself. And this is not who you are.”

She moved faster than Adrien could follow, whipping her hand across his face just hard enough for it to sting.

“Ow,” Adrien said, blinking as he registered the slap. “What was that…?”

“You idiot!” Queen Bee yelled, her voice full of a fury Adrien had definitely not expected. “When someone decides to be your enemy, don’t reveal your secret identity to them! Are you trying to get yourself killed! What were you thinking?” She grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him toward her.

Adrien blinked at her. “Are you worried about me, Chloe?”

She shoved him away from her. “Of course not. The only thing I worry about is being able to rule Paris! And I hate you.”

“Is that how Papillion convinces people to be on his side? He convinces them they hate everyone they care about? Or maybe he just convinces them to hate the people who can get in their way?” Adrien asked. “After all, Ivan and Mylene never hated each other.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Either way, you have to realize that this isn’t you. You have to realize that you didn’t just suddenly start hating us all. This is Papillion, telling you how you feel. Are you really going to let him get away with that?”

Queen Bee looked away, the emotion draining off her face. “You’re wasting your breath. It doesn’t matter to me if it took Papillion’s interference for me to realize that I’m the only one who deserves to have Paris in the palm of their hands. It’s still what I want, and I’m going to get it.” She looked at him, her eyes hard and cold. “Get in my way again, as Adrien or as Chat Noir, and I will not hesitate to get rid of you. And even if you stay out of my way, as soon as I get control of Paris, you will be nothing but a liability. You’d better be out of the city by then, if you don’t want to die. Ladybug and Rena Rogue too.”

Adrien balled his hands into fists. “Are you planning on going after Papillion as soon as you figure out your powers?” he asked, and her eyes widened in surprise. “Because that’s crazy. He’ll just take control of you. His first possession may not have worked like he wanted to, but the next one might. You have to stay away from him! You can’t go after him by yourself!”

“I can do whatever I want,” Queen Bee said stiffly, walking away from him. “And you and Ladybug and Rena Rogue will not be able to stop me.”

Her wings started to buzz, like she was about to take to the sky.

“Don’t do this, Chloe,” Adrien said desperately. “Please. Don’t make us fight you. You know we can’t let you take Paris.”

Queen Bee flew into the air. “You can’t stop me.”

She flew away and Adrien watched her go. “You’d be surprised,” Adrien said quietly, even though he knew she probably couldn’t hear him. “We could always stop you like we stopped Volpina.”


	14. Queen Bee

Queen Bee was getting tired.

It had seemed like a good idea, an hour ago, to zip around the city, grabbing shadow creatures before they could attack people and dumping them at the spot where Ladybug, Rena Rogue, and the idiot Chat Noir were fighting the main group of shadow creatures. After all, she had to keep the people of Paris from panicking and surrendering to Papillion before she could take over his operation. And as long as she moved fast enough, no one would see her and realize she was possessed. It had seemed like a perfect plan.

But even with the strength and speed the possession had added onto what she’d had before, picking up shadow creatures and flying them across the city and dropping them into the small mob of shadow creatures was wearing her out.

Queen Bee panted as she struggled with the weight of the shadow creature she was currently carrying. ‘I blame you for this,’ she told Pollen. ‘This was your idea, and it totally sucks.’

‘We don’t know how long it will take for you to figure out how to use your powers. Until you get them, you have to make sure Papillion stays in check. You thought it was a great idea when I first said it. It’s not my fault you’re being such a wimp about it now.’

‘I’m not a wimp. You’re just overestimating how much strength you’re giving me. Guess you’re not as powerful as you think you are,’ Queen Bee said.

‘Oh, shut up, airhead,’ Pollen said. ‘You haven’t even figured out how to use my best powers yet. That’s on you. Plenty of my other chosen have figured out how to use them by now. And you have the qualities you need to be able to use them. You’re blocking yourself from using them, holding yourself back, so don’t talk about me lacking power. It’s entirely your own fault.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Queen Bee asked. ‘How would I be able to use your powers? I don’t even know what they are?’

‘I already told you what they are,’ Pollen snapped.

Queen Bee frowned. She was getting close to where the main group of shadow creatures were. She could hear them now. ‘Unity through communication is not an answer.’

‘It’s as good as I can do,’ Pollen said. ‘You’ll never be able to use my powers if you have to be coddled all the time.’

Queen Bee flew over the group of shadow creatures, careful to stay high enough that the other heroes wouldn’t see her, and dropped the one she was holding into the fray.

She heard Ladybug yell in frustration. “Why are there always more of them?”

Rena Rogue said something back, but she didn’t speak loudly enough for Queen Bee to hear what it was. It didn’t really matter. Queen Bee had to do some more flying over the city, make sure there weren’t any other shadow creatures out and about, traumatizing the citizens.

She couldn’t help but notice as she flew that Chat wasn’t fighting quite the way that he normally did. He seemed angrier this time, more destructive than normal, but also more distracted.

She scanned the city, looking for any sign of trouble. ‘We’ve already caught three shadow creatures going solo. Do you really think there are more of them out there?’

‘Doesn’t hurt to check,’ Pollen said. ‘We do want to keep the city from panicking, after all.’

Queen Bee heard the scream and took a hard turn, heading toward the sound.

The shadow creature was attacking a young girl. An older woman, possibly the girl’s mother, was trying to fend the creature off with a broom. Neither of them were wearing shoes or coats, and it was a pretty chilly night. The creature must have dragged one or both of them out of their houses. That was something they didn’t do very often, usually preferring to feed off of someone who was already on the street, but they did occasionally stop cars or break into houses, and the less the people of Paris went out at night, the more that happened.

The shadow creature leaped toward the mom again, and Queen Bee swooped in and caught it before it could get to her.

She started to rise into the air with the creature, but this one seemed feistier than the other ones. It struggled so much Queen Bee nearly dropped it, causing her to falter in her flight just for a moment. As she faltered, she noticed the mom pulling out her phone like she was taking a picture of Queen Bee.

The creature struggled again, and Queen Bee had to put all of her energy into flying so she could get it back to the main group before she dropped it.

‘She’s probably going to put that picture of you up on the Ladyblog,’ Pollen said. ‘She didn’t seem to realize that you were possessed, but if that picture goes up and people start looking at it, someone might figure it out.’

‘With my luck, she will put it up and the whole city will figure it out,’ Queen Bee snapped as one of the creature’s thrashing arms smacked her in the face. ‘I hate this. I hate this so much. Why are we even doing this? I don’t think I want to rule Paris. I’m not even sure I want to protect it.’

‘Trust me, ruling Paris will be worth it,’ Pollen said. ‘And if you don’t want to protect Paris, then hurry up and figure out how to use your powers already.’

‘I would if I had any idea how to do that!’ Queen Bee felt her irritation levels rising quickly. ‘If you’re not going to help me do that, then stop bringing it up already.’

The main group of shadow creatures came into view, and Queen Bee dropped the feisty one.

She was going to fly away, but before she got the chance, she saw a shadow creature lunging towards Chat Noir. His back was turned on it, and neither Rena Rogue or Ladybug were looking in his direction.

Queen Bee’s reflexes kicked in, and before she knew what she was doing, she was shooting towards Chat, slamming into the creature at full speed and sending it crashing away from Chat before Chat could even notice that it had happened.

She shot into the sky and over to a building before the heroes could see her, landing on the roof out of their sight, incredibly exhausted. That had better have been all of the solo creatures in Paris, because Queen Bee was done flying around looking for them.

It was probably a good time to stop anyway. The heroes were running low on enemies to fight, and they would probably be done soon, able to search the city for other shadow creatures themselves.

For a moment, she lay there, catching her breath and listening to the sound of the heroes fighting the shadow creatures. Then the fighting sounds died away, and she heard Ladybug speak.

“So you think all those extra shadow creatures kept appearing because Queen Bee was bringing them here?” Ladybug asked.

She must have been directing the question to Chat Noir, because he was the one who answered it. “I think so. I don’t think she wants the city panicking and surrendering to Papillion, so I bet she’s still helping us. She’s just making sure they don’t catch her on camera.”

“You said you knew what her plan was,” Rena Rogue said. “That’s not really a plan.”

Chat was quiet for a moment. “She’s going to go after Papillion, overthrow him. Use his army as her own, somehow. But she needs her powers before she can do that.”

“You’re sure about that?” Rena Rogue asked.

Chat must have nodded or said yes so softly Queen Bee couldn’t hear him, because Ladybug’s next question wouldn’t really have made sense without it. “How do you know that?”

“I talked to her,’ Chat said, his voice sheepish. He didn’t elaborate on exactly what had happened during that conversation. Maybe he was worried about getting slapped again. “Earlier tonight. I had suspected that to be the case, and when I asked her, her expression kind of confirmed it.”

There was a moment of silence before Ladybug spoke again. “You’ll have to tell me more about that conversation later. But Tikki thinks that sounds like the kind of plan Pollen would come up with, so I guess that gives us our deadline.”

“Deadline?” Rena Rogue asked the question Queen Bee had been wondering herself.

“To cure Queen Bee,” Ladybug said, her voice matter of fact. “We can’t let her go after Papillion. If they join forces, no matter which one of them is in charge, it will put the city in too much danger. If we can’t cure her before she gains her powers, we’ll have to break the connection between Queen Bee and Pollen so she’s no longer a were-creature.”

“You can do that?” Rena Rogue asked, once again asking Queen Bee’s question.

“Mm-hmm,” Ladybug said. “Turns out, Chat doesn’t necessarily need to touch to something to be able to break it. My bite can turn someone into a were. Chat’s can change them back.”

“I might be able to change them too,” Chat said, his voice quiet. “If they aren’t already a were. We don’t know for sure, because so far the only person I’ve bitten is Volpina.”

“That’s how you separated her and Trixx?” Rena Rogue asked. “You bit her?”

“A were-creatures bite is actually the best way to use our powers. My bite is capable of more healing than any other way I use my powers. Chat’s is more destructive. We were actually a little worried his bite might kill Lila, but we didn’t really have another choice,” Ladybug said.

‘So I could just bite Papillion?’ Queen Bee asked Pollen as Rena Rogue asked the exact same question out loud, except she said Queen Bee instead of I.

“It would be hard for her to get that close to him,” Chat answered. It sounded like he was frowning. “And I’m pretty sure that you still have to figure out how to use your powers in general before you can use them in a bite.”

‘What the stupid cat said,’ Pollen told Queen Bee.

“I don’t think we should break Pollen and Queen Bee apart, though,” Chat said, surprising Queen Bee. “She’s not like Volpina. I mean, Lila and Trixx didn’t even bond properly. We could tell just from the way the light looked in her first transformation. It was… off. And Lila didn’t really want to protect the city. Even before she got possessed, she was only too happy to work for Papillion. Queen Bee isn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but she’s not like that. She was doing a good job. She was being a real hero. She and Pollen belong together, they bonded properly. This is a very different situation.”

“Which is why the goal is to cure her,” Ladybug said, her tone surprisingly soft. “Breaking them apart is a less resort, but if it comes to that, Chat, I need to know I can count on you to do it.”

Chat sighed. “You can always count on me, My Lady.”

 

‘I’m bored,’ Queen Bee complained. ‘This is our second day just sitting around, eating honey and waiting for it to get dark. Why can’t I turn into Chloe and go shopping or something?’

‘Because people finding out Chloe is possessed would not be a positive development,” Pollen reminded her for the umpteenth time. ‘And that’s assuming the possession will survive a detransformation? What if it doesn’t? If we go back to being unpossessed and lose the additional strength and speed it gave us, it will just make it harder for us to take over Paris.’

‘You mean you’re worried that if we transform back, we won’t even want to take over Paris anymore,’ Queen Bee said.

‘Of course we would,’ Pollen replied. ‘No one but us could handle what’s going on in this city right now! We are Paris’ only hope.’

Queen Bee rolled the jar of honey in her hands. ‘You know, if we got rid of the shadow creatures and Papillion, my dad wouldn’t have any trouble running Paris.’

‘Even if we got rid of Papillion, we wouldn’t know how to get rid of the shadow creatures,’ Pollen pointed out. ‘This might just be how Paris is for a while, and maybe forever. The city needs someone who can handle that, and while he is a great politician, your father won’t be able to for much longer. At least if you take over, it’ll still be in the family. He’d probably appreciate that.’

‘Right,’ Queen Bee agreed, but her response definitely lacked enthusiasm.

Pollen sighed heavily. ‘Why is that no matter whose side we’re on, and no matter what reason we have for fighting, you always lack conviction? What’s it going to take to motivate you?’

‘I’m motivated,’ Queen Bee said. ‘I want to do what’s best for Paris. Originally, I thought helping the other heroes protect it was the best way to do that. Now I understand that taking it over is the best way to do it, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m very motivated.’

‘If that were true, you’d have had your powers a long time ago,’ Pollen said. ‘You lack conviction, probably because you lack any real empathy. You joined the other heroes because you’re a fan of Ladybug, not for saving Paris, but for saving you. You’re fighting to take over the city because you want glory and fame, not because you care about the city. I don’t understand how your motives can be so selfish, and yet you still manage to lack any real drive. What’s it going to take to get you to actually be serious about this, or anything that’s not your image? You’re like a child, playing a game. You may throw a fit if you lose, but that’s just because you didn’t want to lose and not because you actually cared about what happened.’

‘Can we be done with the lecture now?’ Queen Bee asked. ‘It’s actually even more boring than just sitting here doing nothing. And also, you’re wrong. I hate Ladybug. Ladybug sucks.’

Pollen sighed. ‘Fine. It’ll be dark soon anyway. And I guess trying to help you learn how to use your powers is pointless, so we might as well just sit here and wait.’

Queen Bee lay in silent boredom for a while as she waited for the sun to set and the sky to get dark enough for the shadow creatures to come out. Hanging out on a roof was not her idea of a good time, but Pollen was right. She couldn’t let people know that either Chloe or Queen Bee had been possessed, so there was nothing else she could really do.

Finally, the sun set enough that the citizens wouldn’t be able to tell she was possessed, at least not as long as she stayed a little way away from them, Queen Bee took off into the sky, flying through Paris as she scanned for any stray shadow creatures, even though she wasn’t at all sure they were out yet.

But something else caught her eye first.

Words spelled out on a roof on multiple sheets of paper in large, glowing letters. Hey, Blue Queen Bee they said. Clearly, someone in Paris knew she was possessed.

It wasn’t hard to figure out who it was, either. His mop of red hair made it pretty easy to recognize him.

‘What is he doing on a roof?’ Queen Bee wondered.

‘Seriously. Being on the roof is not a guarantee he’s not going to get eaten by shadow creatures,’ Pollen said. ‘And that’s assuming he doesn’t fall off, and I’m not at all sure that he won’t.’

Queen Bee landed on the roof close a few feet away from Nathanael, eyeing him suspiciously.

Nathanael wasn’t standing up like she’d originally thought. Instead, he was sitting on the roof as far away from the edge as he could get, his face as white as a sheet. But in spite of his obvious terror, he looked up at her and smiled weakly, not looking at all surprised by the sight of her blue skin. “Hey, Queen Bee,” he stammered, his teeth chattering.

Queen Bee stared at him wordlessly for a long moment. “What are you doing up here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

She pursed her lips at the unexpected reply. “You wanted to talk to me because I got possessed, right?” He nodded. “How did you even know about that?”

He glanced towards the edge of the roof and then his head snapped back towards her, his eyes now wide as saucers. “Someone posted a picture of you on the Ladyblog yesterday. It was blurry and far away, but the colors were off. And the other heroes seemed more tense than normal when the reporters tried to talk to them last night. It wasn’t that hard to put two and two together.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” Queen Bee muttered. Why was it so freaking hard to keep secrets from this kid? She sighed heavily. “Look, if you’re going to try to tell me that the way I’m behaving isn’t like me, that everything I’m doing is because Papillion is influencing me…”

“That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about,” Nathanael said suddenly, his voice steady, startling her into silence. “To be honest Queen Bee, I have no idea what you’re like, and I have no idea what Papillion is influencing you to do. You’re still saving Paris, so the possession obviously didn’t work like it was supposed to. So I have no idea what it’s actually doing.”

Queen Bee frowned at him. “Then why are you talking to me right now?”

Nathanael’s eyes unfocused. For a second, he seemed to be looking at something far away. “Well, you’re not the only person who wasn’t affected by the possession in quite the way Papillion expected. And, well, you might not care what I have to say, but I just wanted to tell you what I wish someone had told me when I got expected. I feel like I owe that to you. For saving me. And for… everything you’ve done with Paris.”

She could have just flown away, but she was kind of curious. “And what’s that?”

He focused on her again. “Like I said, I don’t know exactly how the possession is working for you. Maybe this isn’t applicable to you at all, but…” He paused for a moment, hesitating. “I just know for me, there was a moment when I had to make a choice. Between someone I cared about and keeping the power that Papillion had given me.” He paused again. “I made the wrong choice. She got in the way of me staying powerful, and I turned on her. Chose my power over her. Over me. Over being the person I wanted to be. The power was addictive. I felt like I could do anything, and I chose that over everything else that mattered to me.”

“Oh, please,” Queen Bee said. “I’ve heard about your possession. You didn’t do anything that bad.”

“And yet, I still regret what I did do,” Nathanael said. “I chose power over someone who really mattered me. I’m just telling you, as someone whose been somewhere at least kind of like where you are, if you find yourself with someone you care about standing in your way, choose them. Choose them over the power. Otherwise, you’ll just end up regretting it.”

Queen Bee’s mind flashed back without her permission to the night before. To Adrien standing in front of her, telling her that he couldn’t let her take Paris. She glared at Nathanael. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He shrugged. “You sound pretty defensive for someone I just completely misunderstood.” He looked down at the papers he’d put on the roof of his house and then looked back up at her. “I know that this is probably the last thing you want to hear right now, but you’re not as free like you think you are. Even if his control of you isn’t what you thought it’d be. You’re still his prisoner. You need to let Ladybug heal you.”

Queen Bee’s hands balled into fists. “I can’t! I have to protect Paris, and the best way to do that is to take over from Papillion. Rule the city so he can’t.”

Nathanael frowned, studying her. “You can’t. You sounded serious about that part.” His expression cleared. “You can’t make yourself hold still around Ladybug. And you’re probably way too fast for them to catch you. You’ve already tried, haven’t you? Tried to let them heal you, but no matter how much you tell yourself you’re the one in control, you can’t just let them take the power away.”

“That’s not true!” Queen Bee screamed at him, trying to make him understand. “I don’t care about them, I don’t care about you, I don’t care about Paris! All I want is to rule it! All I want is to be loved and adored for the wonderful person I am! I don’t care about anything or anyone else. You should get off this roof. If a creature comes along to kill you or if you fall, I’m not going to save you. I won’t even bat an eyelash.”

For a long moment, Nathanael just stared at her, his expression unreadable. “Okay,” he said suddenly, making her suck in a shocked gasp at the coolness in his voice. “If that’s how you feel, why don’t you prove it? Show me how much you don’t care.”

She was about to tell him that she’d be happy to when he pushed himself up to his feet, stepping sideways on the roof. She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing when he took a deep breath in and turned so his back was to the edge of the roof, his feet on the very edge.

Then he leaned back, his feet leaving the roof as he fell.

A scream tore itself from Queen Bee’s throat before she could stop it. Wordless panic flooded her brain, coming from both her and Pollen, and she was in motion before she knew what she was doing, shooting towards the falling boy. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him tight as her wings buzzed, pulling them both out of the fall.

She landed on the ground and let go of him. He stumbled backwards as he tried to regain his balance. He was even paler now than before, and he was shaking like a leaf. But he looked at her with clear eyes and spoke in a strong voice. “You shouldn’t bluff, Queen Bee. You’ve got such a sweet voice, and if people figure out you don’t mean a threat they’ll never take any of the other ones you make seriously.”

Queen Bee growled and shot forward, wrapping her hand around his throat and pushing him back against the wall behind him. “You want to test me, Nathanael? Do you have any idea how easy it would be to break you?”

He raised both of his hands, grabbing hers gently and pulling it away from his throat. She didn’t really mean to let him. She couldn’t have explained why she did. “I get it, Queen Bee. The more stuff you do or say that you didn’t want to, the more you feel like you can’t fight him. You’re too ashamed to fight back now, because if you break free than you’ll have to take responsibility for everything you’ve ever done before, for not breaking free earlier. But you don’t have to be ashamed. You don’t have to apologize, for any of it. The people that care about you, Queen Bee, they’ll forgive you for all of it. They’ll forgive you for not being able to fight this off by yourself. They probably won’t even have to. I doubt they’re even mad at you right now. They’re probably just worried about you. I know I am.”

Queen Bee pulled away like his touch burned her. “You’re wrong. I don’t regret anything, and I don’t care who worries about me, or who doesn’t. I don’t care if they’re mad at me, I don’t care if they hate me!”

He frowned. “You don’t really think…”

They both froze as they heard the growl behind them.

Queen Bee whirled around to see a shadow creature already in motion behind her, lunging not toward her, but to Nathanael.

Queen Bee threw her hands out blindly like that was going to stop the creature as power surged inside her, yellow light shaped like a dart shooting out from her hands, flying towards the creature.

‘Finally!’ Pollen said happily. ‘Congratulations, Chloe. You finally got your powers.’


	15. Queen Bee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gets a little violent, so I'll post a summary at the end of it in case anyone wants to skip it.

The dart sailed past the shadow creature’s face and disappeared into the darkness.

‘And you missed. How did you miss? He’s like five feet away. Can’t you aim?’ Pollen asked.

Queen Bee ignored her, kicking the shadow creature away from Nathanael.

‘Actually, it’s probably a good thing that you missed,’ Pollen said thoughtfully. ‘It’s probably not a good idea to hit a shadow creature. It seems like it could be really damaging.’

‘Isn’t that kind of the point?’ Queen Bee asked, slashing her heel across the creature’s face.

‘Not damaging to them,’ Pollen said, but she didn’t elaborate on that, and Queen Bee was a little too busy taking down a shadow creature to press her for more information. The stupid thing would not stop trying to grab Nathanael.

The shadow creature finally dissolved into shadows, leaving Queen Bee panting but unharmed and alone with Nathanael.

‘We should go,’ Pollen said. ‘You’ve got your powers now. We need to go after Papillion before Chat or the others figure out you’ve got them. You heard what Ladybug said.’

‘Yeah,’ Queen Bee agreed.

She turned to face Nathanael. “You should get inside. It’s not safe out here, and I’ve got better things to do than waste my time with stupid boys who think putting themselves in danger is the right way to get through to me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a Lord of Shadows to overthrow.”

“Overthrow?” Nathanael asked, frowning. “Not defeat. Overthrow. As in, you’re planning on taking over for him?”

Queen Bee shrugged. “Why waste perfectly good shadow monsters?” she asked. The blood drained from his face. She smiled sweetly at him. “What is it, Nathanael? Am I not turning out to be the hero you thought I was?”

She turned to leave, figuring she’d probably disappointed Nathanael enough that he’d never talk to her again, but she hadn’t taken more than a step before he spoke again, words that had her freezing in place.

“What about Chloe?”

Queen Bee turned slowly, looking back at Nathanael with wide, confused eyes. “What about Chloe?”

He met her gaze with a surprising steadiness. “She’s not perfect, I know. She’s a bully through and through, always being mean to people. But she’s not like Papillion, and she didn’t deserve to be attacked like that. To be left dying on the street? I know she survived and she acts like she’s fine, but no one just gets over something like that, and she didn’t deserve something like that. None of them did, I’m sure, but she’s the one that I know you’ve met. You must’ve realized that she didn’t deserve to have something like that happen to her.”

It was strange, the things those words did to her heart. He called her a bully. He was saying she didn’t deserve to be brutally murdered, not sticking up for her, but it didn’t matter. All Queen Bee could think about was how, when her classmates had noticed Nathanael’s absurd number of posts on the Ladyblog the night Chloe was attacked and worked out that Chloe might have been attacked by a shadow monster, her classmates had acted like Chloe deserved it, and that Chloe wouldn’t even care that it had happened to her. Like she didn’t have feelings of any kind. Sabrina hadn’t done that, of course, but it wasn’t until that moment that Queen Bee realized that Nathanael hadn’t either. Even when she’d threatened him, Nathanael had pitied her and worried about her.

He’d thought about how she felt, as hard as she had tried to pretend like she didn’t feel anything beyond irritation.

Of course, he had said something about her being heartless when he’d been possessed, when he’d decided that Chloe was the one person he was okay with hurting, but maybe that hadn’t been quite as accurate a description of Nathanael’s real thoughts as Chloe had thought had it was.

Queen Bee walked over to Nathanael, putting her hands on his waist and lifting him straight off the ground. His eyes widened as he stared at her in surprise.

Queen ignored the way he was looking at her and flew him over to his bedroom window, pushing it all the way open with her foot and dumping him inside it.

She hovered just outside the window for a moment, glaring at him. “Stay indoors,” she said him sternly. “If I find out that you went out again tonight and risked getting eaten by a shadow creature, you are going to be in a world of trouble. Understand?”

He nodded, staring at her with wide eyes. “Your… your skin…” he stammered. “Just like… when I fell… your… your…”

Queen Bee didn’t bother trying to figure out what he was talking about. She closed the window on him and flew off into the city, looking for a shadow creature, preferably one who was trying to feed off someone and not one that was trying to possess people.

It didn’t take very long. Some poor guy had gotten a flat tire and had to pull over to the side of the road, and the shadow creature had started to attack him. The only reason it hadn’t bitten him yet when Queen Bee showed up was because it had gotten distracted by the man’s wife and kid in the car.

The creature grabbed the door like it was going to rip it off, and the woman scrambled backwards, putting herself in between the creature and her daughter, a tiny little blond girl in a pink dress and pigtail.

Queen Bee’s eyes widened, and for a second, she couldn’t even breathe.

The man yelled and hit the creature in the back of the head with his hands. The creature turned, knocking the man to the ground and moving toward him.

Queen Bee shot toward him.

‘Chloe! Don’t! I know it’s horrible, but we need to let the creature feed off him a little so we can follow it back to Papillion.’ Pollen said.

Queen Bee shot forward like she’d been fired out of a canon, crashing into the creature at full speed and sending them both flying away from the man. She rolled off the creature and looked up at the man. “Get your wife and your daughter and get inside the nearest building.” The man stared at her in startled confusion for a long time. “Go!”

The man ran inside and Queen Bee turned back around to face the creature.

‘Chloe, we need the shadow creature to feed off someone!’ Pollen protested.

Queen Bee watched as the creature got back to its feet. ‘They don’t deserve this,’ Queen Bee said. ‘None of them deserve this anymore than I did.’

‘Seriously? You’re going soft on me now? Because of a boy?’ Pollen demanded. ‘You’ve been mean your whole life, and now that you’ve been possessed you’re going to start being nice?’

‘I am not like Papillion,’ Queen Bee said. ‘And I’m not mean.’

The shadow creature slammed into her and Queen Bee didn’t fight back, letting the creature tackle her to the ground.

‘Chloe! What are you doing? That thing’s going to… bite you.’

The creature opened its mouth and swooped toward Queen Bee’s neck. She put one arm up reflexively and the creature’s teeth sank into her arm instead.

She bit her lip to keep from screaming. ‘You’re making me fully human again, right? Might as well put my human, shadow-creature luring blood to good use.’

‘How are you going to follow it after it drinks your blood? What if it knocks you out?’ Pollen asked.

The creature wrenched its teeth out of Queen Bee’s arm and went to bite her neck again. This time, Queen Bee managed to stop herself from fighting back, letting the creature’s fangs to sink into her neck.

It was on the opposite side as it had been last time, but it still had Queen Bee flashing back to just a few weeks ago. It still hurt, though not as much as it had last time. Her skin was probably tougher now than it had been before, preventing the teeth from doing as much damage, but she could still feel the creature sucking the blood out of her.

She hated that feeling. The combination of the crushing and the sucking were repulsive, and horrifying, and somehow, they were worse the second time.

‘That’s enough, Chloe. That should be enough blood for it to have to walk back to Papillion instead of doing it’s fading into the shadow thing,’ Pollen said.

Queen Bee kicked the shadow creature in the stomach, pushing it away from her with a scream of defiant rage.

The shadow creature tumbled to the ground. It got back up to its feet like it intended to continue the fight, but it saw her face and seemed to think better of it, turning on its heels like it was going to trundle off in the other direction, but then it shot into the sky instead.

‘What?’ Queen Bee asked, staring after the creature in shock for a brief moment.

‘Oh, hey look. This one flies,’ Pollen said.

Queen Bee shot into the sky after it, trying to stay far enough behind that it didn’t know she was following it, but close enough that she wouldn’t lose track of it. ‘Why can it fly? I didn’t think any of them could fly. I mean, if they could fly why didn’t they do it sooner? This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!’

‘I hate to say this, Chloe, but its ability to fly might have less to do with Papillion and more to do with your airheaded decision to let it feed of a superhero,’ Pollen said.

‘What? Why didn’t you tell me something like that could happen?’ Queen Bee asked.

‘I didn’t exactly have time. I didn’t have a whole lot of warning before you went limp and let it bite you. It’s not like you told me what you were planning ahead of time.’

Queen Bee growled but kept flying, not able to think of a response.

Pollen spoke again. ‘It doesn’t matter anyway. So what if one of the shadow creatures can fly now? It’ll be under our control soon enough. They all will.’

‘How are we going to do that? You told me we could but you never said how,’ Queen Bee said.

‘You’ve got your powers now. If you can just aim well enough to hit Papillion, we’ll be fine.’

Queen Bee frowned. ‘What do you mean? What do my powers do? Rena Rogue’s create or strip away illusions. Ladybug’s fix things and heal things.’

‘And create things,’ Pollen added. ‘She uses them to make those chains, but she is capable of making things beside just those.’

Queen Bee considered that for a second and then kept going. ‘Chat can use his powers to destroy things.’ She paused for a moment, but Pollen didn’t say anything. ‘What? You’re not going to chime in, tell me he has other powers too?’

‘His powers have interesting applications, but destruction sums them all up nicely,’ Pollen said.

‘And my powers do what, exactly? Please tell me it’s not just a little bee sting,’ Queen Bee said.

‘It’s not just a little bee sting,’ Pollen said. ‘Have you met me? You should know my powers are something far more impressive than that.’

‘Mind telling me what they are so I’m not just flying into this blind?’ Queen Bee asked.

‘I can’t,’ Pollen said, sounding irritated. ‘My power has a pretty good range of ways they could go. If I tell you what they are, it would only limit the way you thought about them. They’ll be much stronger if you use them in whatever way suits you best, than if they’re limited by whatever way you interpret what I say. The only thing you need to know is to stay motivated. My powers will only work if your drive is deep enough and good enough to use them.’

‘That’s not helpful,’ Queen Bee complained.

Then she noticed the shadow creature dipping down, heading towards a large, non-descript building. It flew in through one of the windows and Queen Bee landed on the ground outside of the building.

‘Is this where Papillion lives?’ she asked. ‘Ew. Who would want to live here?’

‘I don’t think he does,’ Pollen said. ‘This is probably where shadow creatures stay during the day. Papillion probably only comes here occasionally. I’m sure he lives in a much more normal place.’

Queen Bee crept up to a side door and slipped carefully inside the building. There were a few shadow creatures lazing about, but none of them were paying any attention to their doors. Their attention was focused on a man standing in the middle of the room.

A man with butterfly wings.

Queen Bee’s breath caught in his throat. Is that Papillion? She wondered to herself. How could someone so evil be so beautiful.

She ducked behind a column as the man started to turn, and Queen Bee’s eyes widened as she saw his face, at the purple pattern that swirled across his skin. ‘Pollen? Is… is Papillion a were?’

‘Why do you think they call him Papillion?’ Pollen asked, her voice full of an endless, aching sadness Queen Bee couldn’t begin to understand.

She couldn’t even focus on it. Her mind was too full of something else.

‘The were-butterfly,’ Queen Bee said. ‘But how… how does he have vampires working for him?’

There was a pause so long Queen Bee didn’t think Pollen was going to answer her. ‘He’s the butterfly. The butterfly is the kwami of change. And I suppose if the soul using those powers is dark, the change would be dark as well.’ She was silent for another long moment. ‘Twisting Nooroo’s powers like this… How could he?’ Her voice filled with rage. ‘He must pay for this.’

Queen Bee blinked, trying to focus, but the anger flowing from Pollen overtook her, drowning out all her thoughts, all her caution.

Before she even knew what she was doing, she was stepping out from behind the column, holding out her hands and firing glowing yellow stingers like the one she had made earlier that night at him.

He moved in a blur of speed, avoiding her stingers. Queen Bee moved to fire at him again, but she never got the chance. Something blue and too fast for her to follow breezed past her, glowing with vibrant light.

At least, Queen Bee thought it had breezed past her. It wasn’t until she started to turn that she noticed the movement felt off. She glanced behind her to see that the blue light had slashed cleanly through one of her wings, splitting it in half.

Queen Bee whirled, looking for the source of the blue light, but all she saw was the blue light itself, coming at her again.

She tried to dodge, but the blue light was too fast for her. It had barely brushed her arms, but left deep cuts in her skin, sending blood dripping down her skin.

Queen Bee’s eyes widened as she looked around for her attacker. She saw Papillion, who looked at her with equal parts disgust and boredom. But she couldn’t see whoever was throwing the weird blue things at her.

They blew past her again, by her legs this time, and suddenly Queen Bee couldn’t stand. She collapsed to the ground, staring at the blood flowing down her legs.

She froze, gasping for breath. She couldn’t move, her muscles locking up, her mind going blank.

‘Chloe, no! You can’t go into shock right now! You have to fight back! Use your powers! Or run away! You are outmatched. Guess Lila was telling the truth.’

Queen Bee pushed herself to her feet. The blue light came toward again, slashing through her wings and curving backwards. Queen Bee followed their movement with her eyes, watching as they flew back into the hands of a dark figure she hadn’t noticed before.

The figure was tall and glamorous, shrouded in something blue that looked like feathers.

She paused for a moment, studying Queen Bee carefully. “Doesn’t look the possession worked out well. And here I thought the whole hero thing was just an act. Looks like it was more true than I realized. A shame. I’d have preferred to turn you to our side, but since I can’t seem to do that, you’re just a liability.”

She sent the blue flying at Queen Bee again. This time they came toward face.

No way was Queen Bee letting those things anywhere near her face. She held out her hands and focused on the rage she’d felt when the shadow creature had come after Nathanael, and again when Pollen had talked about Papillion’s powers. She fired off a bunch of the yellow stingers at once, knocking the blue things out of the air and sending them crashing to the ground, sending more at the dark figure, forcing her to move from her place, coming out of the darkness, where Queen Bee could see her better.

She could see the blue things better now, too. They were fans, decorated with eyes. Similar eyes decorated the feathers that surrounded her.

Queen Bee looked at the swirling blue pattern etched across her skin, at the red mixed in with her dark hair. Her transformation was beautiful, glamourous in a way that none of the other weres were.  
“So you’re a peacock?” Queen Bee asked. “Good. I’ve really been needing someone I can refer to as birdbrain.”

Birdbrain closed her eyes for a brief second, blue feathers surrounding her hands and condensing into the blue fans. “Brave little girl, aren’t you? But you’re out of your depth.” More feathers formed more fans all around her, and then she sent all of them flying at once.

Queen Bee fired stingers everywhere, knocking down as many of the fans as she could, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The fans were everywhere, slicing through her skin, blood flying everywhere.

The realization hit Queen Bee like a ton of bricks. She was going to die here, sliced into ribbons by a woman whose face she couldn’t even really see. It was like that night in the rain all over again. She’d disappear, and almost no one would care. Not about her. They might feel bad for the mayor, or Adrien, but they wouldn’t care that she was gone.

That wasn’t entirely true. They’d care a lot about Queen Bee.

Queen Bee lowered her hands, letting the fans rip past her face, one slicing her cheek and sending blood running down her face. “I’m not a little girl,” she said, reaching inside her for the power she felt when she created the stingers and bracing herself to let it all at once. “I am a queen, and I promise you, I am far more than a bird brain like you could possibly handle.”

Then she let as much of the power go at once as she could, sending out a blinding flash of honey colored light.

It washed over the peacock and Papillion without seeming to do anything, but then the shadow creatures in the room all went crazy, lunging for the peacock as if they suddenly thought she was their enemy instead.

She dodged around them and moved towards Queen Bee. “Alright, you’re being more of a problem than I’d anticipated. Guess it’s time for a change of view.”

She threw out one hand towards Queen Bee, and feathers flew around her in a tornado until she could see nothing but them. She yelped in surprise as her body went weightless, her feet lifting off the ground. The ground disappeared from view.

And then the feathers vanished, but Queen Bee was no longer in the building with the peacock or Papillion. Instead, she was in the sky, far above Paris. She was weightless for a second, and then gravity took hold of her again.

Queen Bee plummeted toward Paris, her shredded wings trailing uselessly through the air around her.

She couldn’t scream for help. She couldn’t do anything. Her consciousness was fading fast, and she didn’t know if it was from all the blood she’d lost, or from all the power she’d used. All she really knew was that she helpless.

The last thing she was aware of before her consciousness faded completely was Pollen’s panicked voice, filling Queen Bee’s head, screaming a single word.

‘HELP!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Queen Bee shoots a stinger at the shadow creature but misses  
> -She fights off the creature and puts Nathanael back in his bedroom  
> -She finds a shadow creature and lets it drink some of her blood to send it back to Papillion  
> -The creature gains the ability to fly from drinking her blood  
> -She follows it back to Papillion's lair and figures out that Papillion is a were, and that he has a were-peacock on his side  
> -The were peacock almost kills Queen Bee, but she manages to release almost all her power in a wave of light that temporarily causes the shadow creatures to attack were peacock  
> -The were peacock attacks her with her powers instead of her weapons and Queen Bee finds herself above the city, falling with ruined wings, Pollen in her head screaming for help


	16. Rena Rogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I put in that this is chapter 16 out of 28. That's just an estimate. I know I'll need at least twenty-eight chapters to do everything I have planned left in the story, but I might end up needing a couple chapters more than that. If so, I'll update that as soon as it becomes clear.

Rena Rogue had just kicked a shadow creature in the face when she heard the screaming.

She’d gotten used to the sound of people screaming for help since she’d become Rena Rogue. She had very good hearing after all, so she could hear people even when they were pretty far away.

But this different. This voice didn’t require extra good hearing for her to catch it, because this voice was in her head.

Which meant…

“Queen Bee,” Chat said, spinning around in a circle, his eyes scanning the area desperately.

Ladybug squinted into the night like she was trying to be helpful and look for Queen Bee too, but she didn’t have night vision like Chat and Rena Rogue did, so the odds of her spotting Queen Bee were not very good.

For some reason, Chat seemed to be looking for Queen Bee on the ground, so Rena Rogue turned her eyes to the sky, looking for any sign of the flying superheroine.

It only took her a few seconds to spot Queen Bee, even though she was a little higher in the sky than Rena Rogue had expected. Once she saw her, it took a few more seconds for Rena Rogue to process that Queen Bee wasn’t flying, and then Rena Rogue was yelling at the top of her lungs.

“Oh my gosh, she’s falling out of the sky!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir both turned to stare at Rena Rogue with wide eyes. “What?” Ladybug asked, equal parts upset and surprised. “Where?”

Rena Rogue pointed and Ladybug took off like a rocket, zooming in the direction that Rena Rogue had pointed until she got close enough to see Queen Bee herself. Then she sent her chains flying toward the falling figure.

Rena Rogue started to run toward them, but a shadow creature got in her way.

“Move it!” Rena Rogue snapped. She went to punch the shadow creature in the face, but she didn’t get a chance.

Chat Noir yelled in pure frustration, and black liquid poured off him, flying away from him in a deadly arc, dissolving every single one of the shadow creatures they’d been fighting so much that they were all forced to retreat. In about four seconds, the shadow creature in front of her was gone, along with all the others.

Rena Rogue stared at Chat Noir with wide eyes. Punny, goofy, silly Chat, the one hero who refused to stop making jokes no matter how bad things in Paris got, the black-clad hero who brought light into Paris in the midst of all the shadow creatures, had an incredibly dark expression on his face. It was actually kind of terrifying, and that wasn’t a word Rena Rogue thought she’d ever use to describe Chat.

He broke into a sprint, wobbling slightly on his feet before he managed to get going, running toward Ladybug and Queen Bee.

She ran after him, weaving through the streets of Paris fast enough to get there only seconds before Ladybug’s feet touched the ground, Queen Bee in her arms.

Ladybug laid Queen Bee gently on the ground as Chat Noir and Rena Rogue came running up. Chat knelt down on one side of Queen Bee, Rena Rogue on the other. Ladybug stayed on her feet for a moment, staring at Queen Bee with a strange expression before she knelt beside Chat.

Queen Bee was covered in cuts and obviously unconscious. Rena Rogue hadn’t even known they could stay transformed after they lost consciousness. The cuts and blood were bad enough, particularly since Rena Rogue knew how hard it was to cut a were’s skin, but it was the sight of her wings that made Rena’s breath catch in her throat.

“What happened to her?” Rena Rogue asked. “Did the shadow creatures do this to her? Then why was she up so high in the sky? She shouldn’t have needed to, for any reason I can think of. And how she was flying anyway? I mean, look at her wings?”

Ladybug frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. “This can’t have been shadow creatures. Look at the cuts. They’re way too clean to be from the shadow creatures. They must have been done with a knife or something…” Her voice trailed off. She leaned a little closer, squinting in the darkness. “Do the edge of those cuts look a little strange to you?”

Rena Rogue didn’t love the idea of getting a closer look at the cuts, but she leaned in anyway, studying them carefully. “Yeah. The edges look almost like they’ve been… burned. Shouldn’t that have stopped the bleeding, or something?”

Ladybug shrugged, looking at Chat. “Our weapons do that, to each other, when we touch them with our bare skin. Do you think…?”

“She went after Papillion?” Chat finished, his voice low and so dark it sent shivers down Rena Rogue’s spine. “Not unless she got her powers.”

“Maybe she did,” Ladybug said quietly. “There’s no way the shadow creatures could have done this.”

Chat reached out, flipping Queen Bee’s left arm over to reveal a bloody bite. “But they could have done this.” He moved to his hand to tilt her head up, revealing a similar bite on her neck. “And this. The creatures disappear unless they’ve fed off someone. Maybe she didn’t let them feed off a civilian after all.” The dark sound was gone now, replaced by a hollowness that honestly freaked Rena Rogue out more.

“If she was fighting Papillion, then why did she fall from so high?” Rena Rogue asked, trying not to look at Chat. “Is Papillion attacking Paris from outer space, or…?”

Ladybug shook her head. “There’s no point speculating. Let’s just ask her what happened.”

She put one hand on Queen Bee’s shoulder, but then she hesitated. Rena Rogue waited for her to use her powers, but she seemed to be frozen.

“Is something wrong, Bugaboo?” Chat asked, looking at her with concern. “Why aren’t you…?”

Ladybug spoke, so quietly even Rena Rogue could barely hear her. “What if it doesn’t work? What if I can’t cure her? I’ve never cured one of them successfully before. I didn’t manage to cure Volpina until you’d broken Lila and Trixx apart. What if I can’t…?”

Chat stared at her. “What are you talking about? Queen Bee’s not like Volpina. She didn’t want this. You saw how hard she fought it.”

Ladybug sighed. “I know, but Trixx was fighting it, and Master Fu said the desire to rule Paris probably came more from her, so…”

Chat blinked. “You’re talking about Pollen. You’re not sure you can cure Pollen.”

Ladybug looked at him helplessly. “What if she doesn’t want to be cured? I’m not sure I can cure either of them if Pollen won’t let me.”

Rena Rogue looked down at Queen Bee and frowned. “Um, I’m not really sure that’s something you should be worrying about,” she said, earning herself surprised looks from Ladybug and Chat. “We were so busy freaking out about the blood that we didn’t even notice, but her skin, it’s not…”

“Oh my gosh, she’s not blue!” Ladybug said, sounding startled and falling backwards onto her hands.

“Yeah. That was my point,” Rena Rogue said.

Chat Noir squinted at her. “Her color doesn’t seem completely right though. The possession seems to have faded, but not I’m at all sure it’s cured already.”

“Still, if it’s faded that much…” Rena Rogue started to say.

“Pollen must be helping her,” Ladybug finished. She sat back up and held up her hands. “That should make it much easier.” She closed her eyes like she was thinking and red bubbles flowed from her hands, surrounding Queen Bee. Her wounds started to heal, the cuts closing and her wings mending. Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief, and Rena Rogue guessed that the possession was cured as well.

But Queen Bee didn’t wake up. Rena Rogue sent Ladybug a panicked look, though it wasn’t nearly as panicked a look as the one Chat Noir was giving her. He and Queen Bee had never seemed that close to Rena Rouge, but she’d clearly been wrong about that.

Ladybug lifted Queen Bee up. “Let’s get her to Master Fu. Maybe he can tell us why she’s not waking up. I’ll take her there. You guys should make sure there aren’t any more shadow creatures roaming Paris and meet us there later.”

Rena Rogue didn’t like that herself, but Chat Noir looked like he was about to wilt at the prospect of spending the entire evening away from both Queen Bee and Ladybug, so Rena Rogue smiled brightly at him. “She’ll be okay, Chat. Come on, let’s make sure Paris is safe.”

Chat’s ears were drooping. It had taken Rena Rogue a while to notice he even had ears. They were mostly obscured by his wild black hair, but that didn’t seem to stop them from working correctly, and it didn’t stop them from expressing his emotions very clearly when they could be seen. But he nodded at Rena Rogue and forced the worst fake smile she’d ever seen. “Right. Paris. Are you feline up to splitting up and looking, or should we stick together?”

Rena Rogue smiled at his half-hearted pun. “We can split up. They go out in ones and twos, and I can handle that many myself. And it’ll get us back to see how Queen Bee is doing sooner.”

Chat nodded. “Be careful.”

He ran one direction and Rena Rogue went the other, listening and watching for any signs of shadow creatures.

Rena Rogue hoped she found one soon. Right now, a good fight with a shadow creature like the one that had bitten Queen Bee sounded great.

But for the first time since she had gotten her powers, there didn’t seem to be any shadow creatures anywhere in Paris but the one group. No solo creatures, no screaming citizens, no one posting on the Ladyblog that they’d been attacked or that they’d heard one.

Finally, she found Chat again, and they both headed back to Master Fu’s.

Ladybug and Master Fu were talking when they got there, Ladybug pacing the floor with an agitated expression as they spoke, Master Fu mixing something in a bowl in his hands.

Queen Bee was lying on a mattress, still unconscious.

“Is she okay?” Chat Noir asked.

Master Fu nodded. “Yes. She used too much of her power at once, and that is something that Ladybug can’t simply heal. But she’ll recover soon enough. Pollen has always been quick to recover her powers.”

“So Queen Bee did figure out how to use her powers then,” Rena Rogue said.

Master Fu nodded. “Yes. I can’t imagine what she would have done to use so much at one. She must have done something rather remarkable.”

Rena Rogue glanced at Chat Noir. “Do you think something about the shadow creatures? Is that why they aren’t out?”

Ladybug sent her a startled look. “What are you talking about?”

“There weren’t any shadow creatures out,” Chat said. “We couldn’t find any out anywhere.”

“Interesting,” Master Fu said. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “The only reason I can think of to explain that is that Papillion must have been distracted from his attack by something pretty dramatic.” He glanced at Queen Bee. “I wonder what she did.”

“Do you think she did it?” Ladybug asked.

He looked thoughtfully. “It is possible. There are several ways I can imagine Pollen’s abilities could be used to distract Papillion. And considering Queen Bee’s personality, I’d imagine if she did do something to Papillion, it was probably pretty spectacular. I kind of wish I’d been there to see it.”

Chat frowned at him. “Her plan was to take over for him.”

“She could have done that,” Master Fu said. “But she clearly didn’t. Let’s ask her what she did do.” He finished his mixing and pulled Queen Bee into a sitting position, putting the bowl to her lips. It looked like one drop slid into her lips, and then Queen Bee’s eye flew open and she started spluttering.

“What is that and why is it so disgusting and why is it in my mouth?” Queen Bee asked loudly.

Chat looked like he was going to cry in relief, but he didn’t move toward Queen Bee, so Rena Rogue did, throwing her arms around Queen Bee with a happy shriek. Ladybug smiled and put one hand on Queen Bee’s arm. “Glad to have you back,” she said.

Queen Bee sent her a startled look. “Really? But I went all evil on you.”

Ladybug shook her head. “That wasn’t your fault.”

Queen Bee frowned. Master Fu spoke next, her head turning towards him at the sound of his voice. “We were hoping you might have an explanation as to why there are no shadow creatures attacking Paris tonight.”

Rena Rogue let Queen Bee go, and Queen Bee rubbed her head. “Last I saw, they were a bit busy attacking Papillion and the bird brain.”

Chat Noir, Ladybug and Rena Rogue all had questions about that sentence. They started talking over each other, Chat Noir wanting to know who the bird brain was, Ladybug asking if she’d really seen Papillion in the flesh, and Rena Rogue asking why in the world the shadow creatures would attack him.

Master Fu smiled at their outbursts, looking like he knew something they did not. He looked like that a lot, as Rena Rogue had noticed before.

Queen Bee reached out, catching Ladybug’s wrist and meeting her eyes with an urgent expression. “Lila wasn’t lying,” she said, her tone full of warning.

Ladybug blinked, looking startled. “What do you mean?”

Queen Bee let go of her wrist and pushed herself up to her feet, though she looked a little wobbly. “Lila wasn’t lying about Papillion having a partner. He’s a were, isn’t he? The were-butterfly?”

Ladybug nodded. “Why do you think we call him Papillion?”

“Wait, what?” Rena Rogue asked, thoroughly confused. “He’s a were? But then how does he make the shadow creatures? I thought he was like a vampire, or something.”

“The butterfly is the kwami of change,” Chat said quietly. “It’s not meant to be used that way, but Papillion figured out a way to twist the kwami’s powers, somehow.”

Queen Bee nodded, not looking at all surprised by any of it. “Yeah, well, he’s got another were on his side as well.”

“The were-peacock, I would guess?” Master Fu said.

Queen Bee looked startled at the words, but she nodded in agreement. “She’s a great deal scarier than he is, face to face. And if I had to guess, I’d say that Lila was correct in calling her the boss, as well. She does seem to be the one in charge. You guys are going to have a hard time dealing with the two of them.”

“Us guys?” Chat asked. “You mean… you’re not going to help us.”

Queen Bee snorted. “I’ve had enough near death and more than near death experiences in the last few weeks to last me a lifetime. I have no interest in running into that peacock again. In case you didn’t notice, that fight didn’t go very well, and I don’t have any intention of dying so young.” Her eyes unfocused. “Assuming I can die, of course.”

Rena Rogue didn’t know what she meant by that. She couldn’t do much but stare at Queen Bee in confusion.

Ladybug, on the other hand, looked enraged. “You’re not going to help us? You’re just going to let them attack Paris? This is your home! Don’t you want…?”

Chat Noir put a hand on Ladybug’s shoulder, and she stopped talking. He looked at Queen Bee with a level of understanding and kindness and sympathy in his eyes that had Queen Bee looking away, her eyes cast down toward the floor like she was ashamed. “Bee,” he said, his voice soft. Queen Bee flinched like he was yelling at her. “It would be different, if you saw her again, Bee.”

Queen Bee looked at him with anger flashing in her honey colored eyes. It wasn’t impressive. She looked sweet, even angry, but she also looked scared. “And why is that?”

Rena Rogue snorted. “Isn’t it obvious? You wouldn’t be alone, next time. You’d have us.”

“And the were-turtle,” Master Fu said. “I did find one, when we were worried about Queen Bee would do, and even though that’s been resolved, I think I will talk to him, tomorrow or the day after, and start him on the process to become the next were-turtle. At least now, we won’t have to rush it.”

Queen Bee looked at him for a moment. “Well, if there’s going to be another were, I don’t think you guys need me.”

“Bee,” Chat started to say.

She shook her head. “I’m not going to go anywhere near Papillion or the bird brain ever again. I’m sick of fighting shadow creatures, I’m sick of trying to save a city that just whines about every little disaster we can’t prevent. You don’t need me and I don’t want anything to do with this.” She moved towards the door, angry and obviously intending to leave.

Ladybug turned on her, her eyes flashing. Rena Rogue braced herself for a lot of yelling, but when Ladybug spoke, she didn’t sound angry at all. “I know, you’re scared, Ch… Queen Bee. I understand why you are. I was scared at first too.”

Queen Bee froze, looking back at Ladybug with a stunned expression.

Ladybug met her eyes with a strange mix of fiery determination and compassion. “I didn’t feel like I’d be able to save Paris. But then Chat helped me realize that I could do it. That we could do it. That we’d have each others’ backs. We’ll have yours too, Queen Bee. Even if you leave, if you ever decide you want to come back… We’ll always have your back.”

Queen Bee’s eyes were wide as she looked at Ladybug. Then she turned and slipped out the door without another word.

Rena Rogue looked at Chat Noir and Ladybug. “Do you think she’ll come back?”

Ladybug shrugged, but Chat Noir nodded without a trace of hesitation or doubt. “She’ll be back,” he said, his voice full of such confidence Rena Rogue felt her own doubts slip away.

Master Fu nodded in agreement. “And with her help and the new were-turtle’s help, I imagine you’ll be able to cause Papillion a lot of trouble.”

Ladybug looked back at him. “You sure it’s a good idea, making someone else the new were-turtle.”

He nodded. “I had to give up Wayzz eventually. And I have now found him a new partner, one who I’m sure can survive the transformation. Quite the remarkable person. I’m sure you’ll all like him a great deal.”

Ladybug didn’t look convinced, but she nodded anyway. “You said you’ll talk to him tomorrow? Do you want us to be here?”

Master Fu shook his head. “I think it’s better to start him off slowly. Let me talk to him a couple of times first. Maybe in a few days you can meet him.”

Trixx spoke in Rena Rogue’s head then, making Rena Rogue jump in surprise. Trixx didn’t talk to her very often. Rena Rogue was pretty sure she still had trust issues after what had happened with Volpina. ‘Great. Master Fu is pretty cool, but were-turtle are normally so chill they’re just boring. And annoying. It’s a bad combination. I’m not looking forward to putting up with another one, and their powers just make everything worse.’

Rena Rogue was surprised by Trixx’s negativity. She’d been thrilled when Queen Bee showed up, even though she had said that the were-bees were normally pretty mean at first, though she also said they all got nice over time, though she wouldn’t explain how or why that happened.

‘How bad they can be?’ Rena Rogue asked. ‘Master Fu is awesome.’

‘Just you wait,’ Trixx said. ‘The new were-turtle will most likely be boring, and cocky, and think he knows everything. He’ll think he’s the best thing to ever walk the earth, and he’ll probably think he can take us all down in a fight, and there’s also the distinct possibility that will be true. The turtle is the guardian for a reason, and it’s not nearly as cool as it sounds.’

‘Wow,’ Rena Rogue said. ‘I don’t even know who this guy is, and I already kind of hate him.’


	17. Chloe

Chloe faceplanted on the bed. She didn’t deign to faceplant very often, but this seemed like a good time for it.

‘Do I have to go to school? I don’t want to go to school. I want to sit in my room where no one tries to possess me. Or bite me. Or tell me that I’m still a hero, even though I wanted to take over the city.’

Pollen sighed. ‘You already missed two days in a row. You shouldn’t miss again.’

‘But what if something else tries to bite me?’ Chloe whined. ‘I don’t want to get bitten again.’

‘You’ve got fangs. If something tries to bite you, bite it first.’

‘Ew. What if I don’t want to?’

‘Then punch it. Come on, Chloe, you’ve got superpowers. You’re learning how to use them. You’ll be fine, and the odds of something trying to kill you while you’re at school isn’t that great anyway. Now get up and start getting ready already,’ Pollen said. She sounded tired.

‘Okay, first off, you probably just jinxed me. Secondly, whose fault is it that I got possessed? Considering the fact that we know from past experience I can’t get possessed because I’m partially a vampire? Who’s the airhead now?’

‘You’re still the airhead, and I am sorry that making you not a shadow creature when you’re Queen Bee allowed you to get possessed, but that doesn’t mean you can just skip school for the rest of your life, Chloe. If you miss again, your dad is going to start getting suspicious.’

Chloe groaned and pushed herself up. ‘Fine. I’ll go to school. But if something or someone attacks us, it’s officially your fault.’

Pollen didn’t deign to respond to that.

Chloe got ready for school, making sure to pack a couple bottles of honey lemonade just to be on the safe side. Lately, she’d started feeling really weird when she went just a little too long without honey. Like she was craving something else, but she couldn’t tell what it was. What else did bees like? Flowers? That would be bad. It’d be pretty hard to explain to her classmates if she blacked out and started eating flowers the way she’d blacked out and bitten through the honey jar the first time.

Chloe walked out of the hotel. She didn’t even have time to make it to the car before a blue hand grabbed her arm.

‘See, Pollen, this is why you’re not supposed to say things like ‘nothing is going to attack us.’ Because then things attack us! This is totally your fault!’ Chloe ranted internally.

Externally, she looked the possessed person in the eyes. The man looked at her with narrowed eyes. “Chloe Bourgeois, you shouldn’t be alive. How are you not one of them?”

Chloe whacked his arm. “Hands off, peasant.” Then she noticed the doorman to the hotel staring at her. “I mean, ahh! Possessed person! Attacking me! Get help! I’m so scared!” She splayed her hand dramatically over her forehead. The doorman’s eyes widened and he turned around, looking for someone to get to help him.

The second his back was turned, Chloe kicked the possessed person in the crotch. He yelped in surprise and let go of her. Chloe climbed in the car and pulled out her phone. “Drive,” she told her new driver when he hesitated. He took off, and Chloe went on the Ladyblog.

Ugly blue person outside my hotel. Ladybug, come take care of this before he scares the guests away.

She’d barely posted it when a text from Sabrina came through. OMG that’s so scary are you okay Chloe?

Chloe smirked at the screen. It was good to know that no matter how many people attacked her, Sabrina would always be there to fuss over Chloe and do her homework for her after. She texted back. No! He grabbed my arm and he was totally gross. I probably have all kinds of germs now. I’ll probably have to burn this jacket.

She sent the text and her phone dinged almost immediately, pulling up another text from Sabrina. Poor Chloe!

‘Why are you never this sympathetic?’ Chloe asked Pollen, but Pollen apparently wasn’t talking to her anymore.

Chloe shrugged. That might have been either boring or worrisome, normally, but between the whole getting possessed thing and the almost death experience at the hands of Bird Brain, she was feeling pretty out of it herself. It wasn’t exactly a surprise to find it was throwing Pollen off too.

Especially since Pollen had taken the brunt of the possession, shielding Chloe from so much of it by taking most of it herself. Chloe wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about that.

On the one hand, Chloe was out of sorts enough as it was. She was glad she didn’t have to deal with any more of the possession feelings than she had already.

On the other hand, if Chloe was being completely honest with herself- ew- Pollen being evil was a lot scarier than Chloe being evil. Even though Pollen couldn’t control Queen Bee’s body, and her being evil theoretically should have been better than Queen Bee being evil, Chloe was pretty sure her laziness would have prevented her from doing anything if Pollen hadn’t been so annoying in her head.

And people acted like laziness was a bad thing.

Chloe climbed out of the car and headed into school, when she heard a voice calling her name, startling her because it wasn’t Sabrina, or even Adrien.

It was Nathanael.

Chloe saw him running toward her and froze, blood draining out of her face.

Memories flashed unbidden through her mind. Nathanael looking at her with gorgeous teal eyes as he stood on the roof. “If you find yourself with someone you care about standing in your way, choose them.”

Nathanael falling from the edge, Queen Bee’s arms wrapping around him, his skin pale as he stood on the ground. “You shouldn’t bluff.”

Queen Bee’s hand wrapped around his throat. “You want to test me, Nathanael? Do you have any idea how easy it would be to break you?”

His hands brushed gently across her skin as he took hold of the hand around his throat, pulling it away from his throat like it wasn’t hard, like she wasn’t stronger than he was, looking at her with an expression she couldn’t understand, one soft and devoid of fear. “I get it.” No judgement in his eyes, no anger that she wasn’t acting like a superhero, that she was threatening him. Just worry. Just concern. And most of all, understanding. The one thing she’d never expected to see in Nathanael’s eyes when he looked at her.

Queen Bee turned to walk away when he spoke again, his words startling her and bringing her to a stop. “What about Chloe?” 

Nathanael’s voice cut through the memories. “Chloe? Are you listening to me?” His eyes narrowed. “You’re really pale. Are you okay?”

Chloe sucked in a deep breath and pushed the memories away. “I’m fine,” she snapped. “What is it, Tomatohead? What do you want?”

He looked down, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other. “I was wondering if your friend was okay.”

Chloe frowned. “My friend? You mean Sabrina? Why wouldn’t she be okay?”

Nathanael shook his head. “No, not Sabrina. I was thinking of someone a little more…” He hesitated for a minute like he was trying to think of how to phrase it. Then he glanced nervously at the people all around them. “Flighty?”

Chloe’s brow furrowed. “What?” Then it clicked. He was asking about Queen Bee. She was the only person he knew that he could ask to see if she was okay. “Oh, you mean…”

Nathanael nodded. “Yeah, I was wondering if she was alright. I know she had problems with that… skin condition.”

Chloe frowned at him again. “Skin…”

‘Possession, Chloe,’ Pollen said, sounding extremely annoyed now. ‘He’s talking about possession. Cause your skin changed color? He’s trying to be subtle so no one overhears and figures out that you know Queen Bee or that she got possessed. He’s keeping your cover.’

“Oh,” Chloe said. “Yeah, she’s fine. She got that taken care of. You don’t have to worry about her.”

Nathanael nodded, but he didn’t look happy.

Chloe didn’t care. She turned to leave, but Pollen spoke up again before she took more than a step. ‘Apologize for trying to strangle him.’

‘No,’ Chloe said.

Pollen was silent for like two seconds. ‘If you don’t apologize for trying to strangle him, the next time you turn into Queen Bee, I will make your hair look exactly like a beehive.’

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ Chloe said, freezing in her steps and glaring at Nathanael like he was threatening her hair. He looked at her with wide, confused eyes, looking torn between trying to figure out why she was mad at him and running away from her again. ‘And besides, I’m not going to turn into Queen Bee again.’

‘Do you really want to bet on either of those things, Chloe?’ Pollen asked. ‘Do you?’

Chloe sighed heavily. She looked at Nathanael. “She did say, if I saw you, I should say sorry to you, for her. For, um…” She mimed strangling someone.

Nathanael blinked. “Oh. That… that wasn’t her fault. She doesn’t have to apologize. I did tell her that. And I didn’t get hurt or anything, so…” He shrugged, like it didn’t matter that a superhero had threatened to break him.

Chloe squinted at him. “Okay, Tomatohead, don’t take this the wrong way, because I don’t care about you or anything, but maybe, when people threaten to kill you, maybe don’t start worrying about them right away. Maybe worry about yourself instead. About them hurting you? That’s usually what people worry about when other people threaten them.”

Nathanael frowned. “She wouldn’t hurt me. She wouldn’t hurt anyone, except maybe a shadow creature. She’s a hero. She’s… perfect.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so naïve, Tomatohead.”

She walked in the school, heading towards their classroom. Nathanael ran after her. “Okay, you need to stop calling me Tomatohead. And I’m not naïve. She’s way too tough to let Papillion control her so easily. She’s not some pushover.”

His voice sounded the same when he said that as it had when he’d called her perfect. If Chloe didn’t know better, she’d have thought he had a crush on her. But that was impossible. Nathanael would never have a crush on Chloe.

Of course, he didn’t know Queen Bee was Chloe.

Chloe squinted at him. “Are you sure sweet on her or something, Tomatohead?”

Nathanael stopped walking. He didn’t say anything, but the color his face turned answered her question much better than any words could have.

Chloe rolled her eyes, feeling strangely irritated. “Of course you do. She’s all sweet and incompetent. Just like Marinette! Totally your cup of tea.”

Nathanael stammered something. It sounded like he was trying to say something about Queen Bee not being incompetent, but he was stuttering so much it was hard to tell exactly what he was saying. She couldn’t even be totally sure that was really what he was saying.

She rolled her eyes again. “Not as incompetent as you. She can at least speak in full sentences.”

‘You do realize you’re insulting yourself?’ Pollen said. ‘You are Queen Bee.’

Chloe slid into her seat, ignoring both the red-faced Tomatohead still trying to spit out a full sentence, and the kwami in her head going on about how she shouldn’t be smack talking herself.

Tomatohead gave up on speaking and went to his seat, putting his head down on the desk and sulking. Chloe couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen him sulk. He was usually just bored, and occasionally disgusted, but never sulky.

Except for today.

‘Well, you did insult his crush,’ Pollen said. ‘But you know, I can see how you couldn’t resist the opportunity to insult yourself.’

‘Shut up,’ Chloe snapped. ‘He doesn’t have a crush on me. He has a crush on a superhero he thinks he knows that he really knows nothing about. He thinks she’s sweet and perfect and… ugh. I can’t believe he likes Queen Bee.’

‘Are you… jealous… of yourself?’ Pollen asked.

‘What? No! Why in the world would I want someone like Tomatohead to like me? I don’t want him to like me. I want someone way more awesome to like me. Like Adrien. Adrien is perfect.’

‘Adrien is Chat Noir. You know, the pun-spewing, goofy were-cat you can’t take seriously? That’s who Adrien really is. You still sure he’s the one you want to like you like that?’ Pollen asked. 

Chloe elected to ignore her. Pollen stopped talking when it became clear Chloe wasn’t going to talk to her, which just made it easier for her to hear her classmates talking.

“Did you hear about Queen Bee? Apparently she saved this family last night, but then she totally gotten bitten.”

“I heard someone say they thought Queen Bee kind of looked blue in that one photo of her. Do you think she got possessed.”

“No way! Queen Bee is way too good for that.”

“Besides, isn’t it impossible for the heroes to get possessed anyway? I mean, they never have before.”

“Honestly, I don’t think she’s all that impressive. She seems like such a pushover. If one of the heroes was going to get possessed, it seems like it would probably be her.”

Chloe grimaced. She was going to say something, but the last person she expected to defend her beat her to it.

“Queen Bee isn’t a pushover!” Alya’s glare took the wind out of the class’ sails, stopping the conversation dead. “She’s amazing, and the city is way safer now that she’s in it! You all get that, don’t you? I mean, you’d have to be an idiot not to.”

The whole class nodded in agreement, looking startled by her ferocity.

Chloe’s eyes flicked to Nathanael without her permission. He was beaming, his eyes on Alya. It was unusual for him to pay attention in class, and he was probably only listening now because it was about Queen Bee. That was definitely why he had that dopey look on his face.

For some reason, the vigorous way he nodded at Alya’s words made Chloe want to slap him.

‘Again,’ Pollen said. “You are Queen Bee. There is no reason for you to be jealous of her. You are her!’

‘I’m. Not. Jealous,” Chloe said.

She turned around to face the front of the class, trying to tune out the rest of the class, but the teacher wasn’t here yet and they would not shut up.

Alya’s outburst did prompt a brief moment of silence, but then Kim broke it. “You know, Queen Bee is kind of hot.”

“Rena Rogue is prettier,” Ivan said, possibly just to disagree him.

Nino frowned. “I don’t know about that. Queen Bee might be prettier than Rena Rogue. Maybe even prettier than Ladybug.”

Adrien sent him a startled look. “What?”

Behind him, Alya glared at him like she was going to murder him. “What did you just say?”

He looked at her expression and flinched. “Did I say something? I don’t remember saying anything.” He looked at Adrien. “Did I say anything?”

Chloe raised her eyebrows. The odds of Adrien figuring out to say no were not good. Nino was probably going to regret asking Adrien. If he was supposed to be Adrien’s “best bud,” how did he not know that?

Adrien frowned. “You said…” He broke off with a startled yelp as Nino kicked him under the desk. “Nothing. You said nothing.” He smiled innocently at Alya. Beside him, Nino put on a matching smile.

Alya looked away from them, miffed. Chloe couldn’t quite understand why that had upset her, but Pollen seemed to find it hilarious, for some reason. She wouldn’t tell Chloe why it was so funny though, even though Chloe could feel the amusement radiating off her.

The teacher finally walked in, and the class had to shut up. Marinette came racing in a moment later. Geez. How hard was it just to be on time? Marinette didn’t seem to be able to ever manage it. What was she doing with her time that was so important? Putting on makeup? If that was the case, she should really be doing a better job.

The teacher started talking and Chloe zoned out, tuning out the teacher and trying not to think about what her classmates had said, and failing miserably.

Why were Nathanael and Alya so quick to defend Queen Bee? They thought she was a hero, but the only thing she really was… was scared. Scared of dying. She’d come close so many times. Surely her luck must have run out by now.

And she was even more scared of facing Bird Brain again. No matter how many times Chloe called her Bird Brain, the images of the fans flying at her, cutting through her skin, reducing her wings to useless shreds flashed through her mind every time she closed her eyes.

She remembered Papillion’s sneer when he looked at her too, like Queen Bee was beneath him, like facing her was just a waste of his time. It made Chloe feel strange, like no matter how many of his shadow creatures they pushed back, they’d never be doing anything more than irritating him a little. They certainly weren’t causing him any real damage. He’d just keep coming after them, creating more of his shadow creatures. Maybe nothing they could do would stop him, or even slow him down. Maybe the most they could do was damage control. They could minimize the damage to the city, but that wasn’t the same as saving the city.

And even if there was a way to save the city, Chloe doubted she’d be able to help. She was pretty sure the next time she got in a fight, she’d just freeze up. She’d be useless.

And besides, what would the point be in saving Paris if she died doing it? She didn’t want to die. She had never really thought about how being a hero made dying so incredibly likely. If she had, she would have been much less excited about becoming one.

‘Chloe,’ Pollen said. ‘You are a hero. You can do it. You can help protect Paris.’

‘Maybe I don’t even want to. Maybe I just want to be safe,’ Chloe snapped.

‘I know you’re scared, Chloe,’ Pollen said. ‘But I also know there’s more to you than this.’

Chloe sulked but didn’t respond. Why was it so hard to tune everyone out today? She was normally really good at ignoring people, but today, her ability to do that seemed shot.

Class finally ended, and Chloe got to her feet.

“Are you okay, Chloe?” Sabrina asked. “You don’t seem well.”

“I’m not feeling so great,” Chloe lied. “I’m going to have to leave school early today, I think.”

She walked out the door, pulling her bag over her shoulder, heading outside. She heard footsteps running after her, and wasn’t even a little surprised to find Adrien coming out after her.

“Chloe! Are you okay?” Adrien asked. “I mean, I know the last few days have been rough and all, but… are you gonna be okay?”

Chloe huffed. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?” she snapped.

She regretted it as soon as she saw the hurt, bewildered look on Adrien’s face. “Well, you don’t really look okay.”

Chloe nodded. “I’ll be fine, Adrien.”

He nodded. “Right. Of course you will. You’re Chloe. You’re super tough.” He tilted his head. “But you’ll let me know if I can do anything for you, right?” he asked.

She held out her arms. “How about a hug, Adrikins?”

He sighed and shook his head at the nickname, but then grinned and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly and lifting her off her feet.

For the first time in a while, Chloe felt safe. Just like she had when Chat Noir had carried her, the first time she almost died. She really should have figured out who he was earlier.

He set her down and she walked away from the school while he went back inside.

She could have called for a ride, but she didn’t. She didn’t know quite how to explain to her driver why she wanted to go to a random little massage place across town.

Lucky for her, Master Fu’s place wasn’t too far from the school. She knocked on the door, and he called out for her to come in.

When she stepped inside, he was pouring honey into a cup of tea which he then held out to her with a smile.

Chloe took it quietly, looking at him wryly. “So you guessed I was coming, huh?” He smiled but didn’t say anything. “I assume you know why I’m here, too.”

He shook his head. “Only in general. If there’s something specific you wished to talk about…”

Chloe cut him off. “It’s still hard for me to use Pollen’s powers. And she seems to have some problems with me, and I don’t think that’s helping us. I was wondering if you could tell me why that was.”

Master Fu smiled like he knew something she didn’t. One of these days, he was going to smile like that, and she was going to wipe it right off his face. “Are you sure you want to know why you and Pollen have been having trouble? It might not be something you enjoy hearing.”

Chloe shrugged. “Well, if you’re going to tell me something rude, today is probably the day to do it.”

Master Fu chuckled. “Well, Chloe, the bee is the symbol of growth. Perhaps Pollen has some problems with you because she thinks you need to do some growing.”

Chloe frowned at him. “So, she wants me to get taller, or…”

He chuckled again. “No, that’s not quite I meant.”

“Okay, don’t be cryptic. Just spit it out,” Chloe said.

Master Fu shrugged. “Very well then.” He met Chloe’s eyes with an expression that had Chloe bracing herself to hear something incredibly harsh. “It seems to me that when you were a child, you found a way of acting that got you whatever you wanted, and you have never changed it since. You’re still acting like a child, but Pollen requires growth. And most of all, she requires someone who understands how a hive works. That the needs of the hive outweigh the needs of the individual. That to make things work, communication alone is sometimes not enough. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made.”

Chloe scowled at him. “What do you mean, sacrifices? If you’re telling me to get myself killed…”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t suggest that. And there are many ways to sacrifice. For example, you could do something you don’t want to, in order to help someone else. Even if it’s hard. Or scary.”

Chloe glared at him. “Have you met me? Selfless is not really my thing. I mean, obviously, I’m the most important person in Paris.”

Master Fu didn’t say anything to that. Instead, he just smiled.

It made Chloe want to hit him. “What? Why do you keep looking at me like that? What do you know?”

Master Fu chuckled softly. “You know, it is a shame you died that night. I didn’t have a chance to find you, explain everything to you beforehand. You are the perfect Queen Bee. It’s just a pity you got thrown into it with no preparation. I imagine it must have been quite scary.”

Chloe frowned. “You would have picked me to be Queen Bee? You would have picked me to be a superhero?” He nodded. “Why?”

Master Fu hummed thoughtfully. “Pollen requires a partner who is tough, and confident, with a strong sense of self. Those things you possess, and I know you are capable of so much more. You will be a great hero, Chloe.”

Chloe groaned. “Ugh. Why do you people have so much faith in me? I mean, I’m not stupid, I know I’m not exactly the nicest person in the world. But you guys keep acting like I’m a good person and I’ll do the right thing, and really, if we’re being totally honest here, the only thing I care about is doing the right thing for me.”

Master Fu nodded. “Of course,” he said agreeably.

Chloe glared at him. “You think I’m going to do the right thing, don’t you?” He nodded again. Chloe threw up her hands. “Work your whole life to make sure everyone knows you only care about yourself and then you get superpowers and suddenly, no one believes you. Might as well go back to school, for all the help you’re being.”


	18. Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long to get up. This last week has been crazy busy. Family moving out of town, plus a bunch of other stuff.
> 
> Unfortunately, this next week is going to be really busy as well, so I can't promise I'll be able to upload the next chapter before Saturday, though I will try to get it up before that, and I will make sure it goes up that day if not sooner.
> 
> After that, things will go back to a normal two to three day schedule.

‘Stop staring at Nathanael,’ Chloe told herself for about the hundredth time in about five minutes. ‘It’s not that hard, Chloe, just stop. Staring. At. Tomato. Head.’

Nathanael looked up from his sketchpad and scowled at her. “Why do you keep looking at me like that? You wanted me to sketch you, so that’s what I’m doing. You are getting what you wanted, and glaring at me is not going to get it to you faster. If you want a good portrait, you’re going to have to just chill out and give me time to draw it.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Bet it would go faster if you stop running your mouth and just draw already.”

Nathanael threw down his pencil and folded his arms over his chest. “Would you just drop the attitude already, Chloe? It’s not like you’re paying me to do this. And I’ve already drawn what, six pictures of you? Isn’t that enough?”

She snorted, forcing herself to keep her eyes off the several pictures of Queen Bee scattered around the room. He’d drawn more than six pictures of her, but she could hardly tell him that. “Why would I pay someone to have the privilege of drawing me? People should be lining up to do it.”

Nathanael’s eye twitched. Then suddenly he smiled. It was not a nice smile. It was the smile of a shark, the smile of a person who had a plan, a fake smile that Chloe had seen her dad’s face, and her dad’s friends’ and enemies’ faces a thousand times, but she’d only seen on Nathanael’s face once, when he was possessed. It was a smile that could only mean trouble for the person it was directed at, and it had Chloe bracing herself for horrible things to happen. “You know what, Chloe? You’re right. There are tons of people who would just love to draw you. Why don’t you go find one of them and have them draw you, and leave me alone?”

Chloe pouted. She’d gotten herself all stressed out for nothing. That was annoying. “Ugh. Because I don’t feel like it, alright. Now, just shut up and go back to drawing me already.”

Nathanael squinted at her. “Why do you want your picture drawn right now anyway? Yesterday you left early because you weren’t feeling well, right? And today you were acting super weird, so I’m assuming you’re still not feeling very good.”

Chloe looked at her nails instead of him. “Stop asking questions and stick to drawing. Why do you care anyway?”

He stopped drawing for a moment to look at her, his expression annoyed. “Because unlike some people, I care about others.” His expression softened. “You sure you’re okay?”

She glared at him so he’d know to stop asking questions. “Oh, do you? Is that why you always sit in the back, not talking to people? Because you care so much?” Nathanael’s eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t look like his feelings were hurt, but Chloe still sighed and let it go anyway. “Look, I already told you I’m fine. And I was not acting weird today.”

Nathanael held up a finger. “You didn’t call Adrien Adrikins today. You didn’t even look at him.”

That’s because he’s Chat Noir, and I don’t want to be Queen Bee anymore, and I can’t look at him knowing that, Chloe thought to herself, but she could hardly say that to him.

Nathanael held up another finger. “You didn’t say anything even sort of mean to anyone today. Even when Marinette tripped and fell on her face or when Ivan came around that corner too suddenly and scared Mylene and she ran away from him. That’s really not like you.”

Chloe scowled at him. Marinette falling had sent her flashing back to falling out of the sky. She couldn’t have said anything if she’d wanted to. And Mylene running away… Chloe was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to make fun of someone else for being scared without making herself feel worse too, and she wasn’t interested in doing that to herself. She couldn’t tell him that, either, so she stayed silent.

He held up a third finger. “You wandered around in such a daze that you walked into two people, and you were actually distracted enough that you apologized to one of them before you realized what you were doing. Don’t try to tell me everything’s normal with you. It’s clearly not.” He held up another finger.

“Stop,” Chloe said. “I get it. I acted kind of weird today.”

“Not kind of,” Nathanael said. “Very weird, for you.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Fine. So maybe I’ve been feeling a little out of it and looking in the mirror would help but I can’t do that so I’m having you draw a picture of me.”

“Would that really make you feel better?” Nathanael asked.

“It would if you would stop talking and just draw me. It’s not like it’s that hard to draw someone without opening your mouth.”

Nathanael smiled like something about what she was saying was funny. “Alright, then. Why don’t you talk so I don’t have to?”

That was definitely not what Chloe had been expecting to hear. “Talk about what?”

He shrugged. “Whatever you want. You could talk about yourself.” His eyes flicked up to her and then back to his sketchpad. “You could even talk about what’s bothering you.”

Chloe glared at him. “Okay, first off, this is the last time I’m gonna say this: nothing’s wrong. Secondly, mind your own business.”

“This is my business,” Nathanael said quietly, his voice matter of fact. “We’re friends now, Chlo. It’s my prerogative to worry about you.”

Chloe tried really hard to ignore the warmth that flooded her body at his words. “Um, no, we’re not. I don’t have friends, except Sabrina, sort of. And Adrien.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Nathanael’s mouth. “Too late, Chloe. I only let people see my drawings if they’re friends of family, and you’re not related to me, so you have to be my friend. And since I’ve even let you keep some of my drawings, so that’s like, best friend level right there.”

Chloe folded her arms. “You can’t just decide that we’re friends.”

Nathanael grinned. “Already did. You can’t change my mind now. We’re friends.”

“But…”

“Friends, Chlo. Get used to it.”

“Quit calling me Chlo!” Chloe said. “Only my friends call me Chlo.” Nathanael’s grin widened as he kept drawing her. Chloe threw her arms up in frustration.

“You came here because you wanted someone to talk to, right?” He asked. She sent him a startled look. He seemed to take that as confirmation. “So what’s bothering you?”

Chloe pouted for a moment, but that gorgeous smile stayed on his face, and her resolve slowly weakened. “I… let down someone that I care about and… and I don’t have what it takes to make it up to them because what they want me to do is ridiculous, and stupid, and… terrifying.” She looked stubbornly off to the side as she spoke, rolling her eyes as she said the last word to make it clear that she wasn’t being serious. Even though she was.

Nathanael was silent for a long moment. “And here I thought the only thing that scared you was a bad hair day.”

Chloe glared at him. “Hey, bad hair days are the worst.”

He glanced at her. “I wasn’t insulting you. Even when I went after you, or when Kim went after you, you just talked about your hair. I was starting to think that things didn’t really scare you.”

“They don’t,” Chloe snapped. He nodded like he believed her. She looked away. “Except for sometimes, I guess.”

Nathanael nodded, but he didn’t say anything.

Chloe squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “They’re asking me to do way too much. I can’t do what they’re asking.”

He nodded again.

“And even if I could, I wouldn’t. I’m fundamentally a selfish person. Why can’t people get that through their heads?” Chloe ranted.

He nodded again.

“They keep expecting me to do the right thing. I never do the right thing for anyone but me, and even then, I only do it as long as it’s not too much work. Don’t they get that?”

Nathanael nodded, his expression passive.

“Say something!” Chloe ordered him, getting to her feet to glared down at him.

He shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth like he was enjoying annoying her.

Chloe huffed and folded her arms, trying to think of something sufficiently rude to say.

Before she got the chance, Nathanael stopped drawing and handed her the page. She stared at the girl he’d drawn for a long moment. The expression on her face was soft and sad and sweet, way more like what Queen Bee might’ve looked like when she was depressed than what Chloe would’ve thought she looked.

Chloe looked up from the page and looked at Nathanael. He smiled softly. “You cared enough to tell me about it, Chlo. Means it must really be bothering you a lot. Means you must care about them a lot. People do things they’re scared of all the time to protect or support someone they love.” Nathanael looked at her, and the look in his clear blue eyes did things to her heart. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Chloe, but if you care about them that much, you do have what it takes.”

Chloe stared at him in stunned silence for a long moment. She looked around at the pictures of Queen Bee. “Is that why you like Queen Bee? Because you feel like she cares? Or is it just because you think she’s perfect?”

Nathanael tilted his head like something she said was confusing. Then he shook his head. “She’s not perfect. She used me as bait the first time I ever met her. That’s pretty far from perfect if you ask me. But even when she’s scared or mad, or possessed, even when she’s not in the best mood or she’s facing too many people to win, she keeps fighting. She keeps taking risks to protect the people she cares about, throwing herself headfirst into fights to keep them safe. To keep Paris safe.”

Chloe snorted. “That makes her an idiot.”

“That makes her a hero.” Nathanael shot back. “You don’t have to be perfect to be great. You don’t have to know what you’re doing every second. You don’t have to be the strongest person in the world. You just have to be willing to care about people, and to have their backs even when it’s hard. You just have to stick around, and not walk out on them just because things got hard. I mean, if what’s going on is hurting you, if it’s hard for you, it’s probably hard for them too. And you don’t have to be able to fix it, you just have to be willing to stick with them.”

Chloe snorted. “You’re pretty crazy about the Bee, huh?” She waved a hand around the room. “I don’t even see any pictures of Ladybug anywhere. So, is Queen Bee the new fairest in Nathanael land?” He looked at her like he was questioning her intellingence. “What? I need to know this. If we’re friends, I need to know who you really have a crush on, so I can properly mock you for it.”

She tried really hard to ignore how hard her heart was pounding in her chest. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted him to say to that. None of the options were actually good. Either he still thought Ladybug was cooler, and just like Queen Bee too, or he only liked Queen Bee, which still meant he didn’t really like Chloe.

Not that she wanted him to like her, or anything.

Nathanael frowned at her like she was saying something weird. “Obviously she is. And you do realize you just referred to us as friends, right?”

Chloe didn’t get a chance to respond to that before his computer dinged. He frowned and moved over to it. “It’s the Ladyblog,” he said. Then he froze in horror. “There’s a big fight going on. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Rena Rogue against a bunch of shadow creatures. There’s too many of them. Chat Noir took a hit for Ladybug. He’s hurt.”

Chloe was out the window before Nathanael could turn around, disappearing into the rain.

 

Queen Bee shot into the crowd of shadow creatures like a rocket, forcing several of them to back away from Chat.

She kicked one away, noticing as she did that Rena Rogue was limping. Apparently, Chat hadn’t been the only injured.

Queen Bee’s eyes flicked towards Ladybug. “Sorry I’m late.”

Ladybug yanked one of her chains, sending a shadow creature toward a wall. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

Chat nodded. He kept trying to stand, but he wasn’t doing very well at it. But he looked up and smiled widely at Queen Bee. “You came back.”

Queen Bee kicked another shadow creature out of her way and glanced over at Chat. “Don’t pretend like you’re surprised. You knew I’d have your back.” 

He grinned, then winced. “Well, yeah, but…”

“Queen Bee look out!” Ladybug cried out.

Queen Bee had no idea where the danger was coming from, so she just picked a direction and moved as fast as she could in it. Ladybug let out a startled yelp, and a claw breezed by Queen Bee’s neck, so close that she felt its claws on her skin.

Queen Bee gasped and moved away from the creature, turning automatically to face the creature, just in time to see inches of blonde hair falling to the ground.

Her eyes widened, her hand going automatically to her hair, touching short, ragged ponytail only a couple inches long. 

Queen Bee made a little whimpering sound. For a second, she couldn’t find her voice, but then when she did find it, it came back with a vengeance. “My hair! What did you just do to my hair? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR!”

The shadow creature didn’t apologize. It didn’t try to explain itself. Instead it growled, and took a step back toward her, as if it was going to attack her again.

And just like that, all of Queen Bee’s stunned horror melted away, leaving her filled with nothing but pure rage.

“How. Dare. You. Touch. My. Hair. You ruined it. You ruined it! You are going to pay for that!”

She threw her hands out as the anger surged inside her, letting loose a torrent of dozens of stingers at once.

‘No! Chloe, don’t!’ Pollen yelled. ‘I’ll grow it back, so just stop it.’

The stingers flew at the shadow creature and Queen Bee spun in a circle, unleashing dozens more at the rest of the creatures with a yell.

“AIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAIAI!”

Ladybug let out a startled shriek and tackled Rena Rogue to the ground. “Queen Bee! Watch where you’re aiming!”

‘Stop it! Chloe, stop!’

Queen Bee finished her circle before she stopped, dropping her hands and scanning the shadow creatures to see what she’d done. Strangely, they looked unmarked.

‘Oh, Chloe,’ Pollen said, sounding heartbroken. ‘That wasn’t a weapon. That was just your power. It’s not going to hurt them.’

Queen Bee was going to ask what she meant, but then a strange pressure started build in her head. She gasped in surprise and raised her hands up to hold her head, as if that was somehow going to stop it.

‘I’m so sorry, Chloe,’ Pollen whispered.

And then, suddenly, Pollen wasn’t the only voice in Queen Bee’s head. One by one, more voices started to speak, one on top of the other. Some of them whispered in voices as quiet as Pollen’s, a brokenness in their voices that made Queen Bee’s heart ache. The rest of them were screaming.

As the voices spoke, memories flashed through Queen Bee’s mind, flashes of places and people she’d never seen before.

The images were horrible. Memories of people being attacked by shadow creatures, often only after they’d watched people they loved being attacked, some of whom were kids. Memories of them digging themselves out of the grave and attacking other people, sometimes people they knew, people who could no longer recognize them. Memories of Papillion, standing in front of them with his cold sneer and arrogance, ordering them to attack their own city, memories of the way their bodies rebelled when they tried to say no, to fight back, to do anything but what he wanted.

Even worse than the memories were the screams. She could hear their voices inside her head, hear them drowning out the desperate whispers of the rest.

‘Please! Please! Just let me go! I don’t want to do this anymore!’

‘Help! Somebody help! Somebody save me! Please! I can’t be a monster any longer! I can’t stand this anymore!’

Queen Bee dropped to her knees and covered up her ears, as if that would somehow block out the voices in her head. It didn’t. 

“Whoa,” said a voice not inside her head. Rena Rogue. “What’s wrong with Queen Bee?”

“This can’t be because of her hair, right?” Ladybug asked. “I mean, it’s already grown back.”

Chat said something in response, but the other voices drowned him out.

‘I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this. Please don’t make do this!’

‘Let me go! Let me go!’

‘Ladybug! Please save us!’

‘No! This is not who I am! This is not who I am!’

‘I want to go home!’ This voice clearly belonged to a child, and that was what undid Queen Bee. She hadn’t even known that a child could be changed.

Queen Bee dropped her hands from her head. She felt the tears already coursing down her face as she sobbed, more screaming ringing in her head until she finally couldn’t take it anymore. She threw her head back and screamed out loud, her mouth forming a word she hadn’t even meant to say.

“STOP!”

She didn’t know who she was screaming to. She didn’t know if she was telling Papillion to quit or if she was telling the universe that it was putting her city through too much. She didn’t know if she was telling the shadow creatures to stop screaming or if she joining her voice to theirs, begging for their release.

She just knew that she needed something to stop. She just knew that she put all of the power into that scream that she could.

Even with her eyes swimming with tears, Queen Bee could see the flash of light that accompanied her scream. She felt all the energy drain out of her, her body sagging even more than it already had been. But she kept her eyes up, staring at the sky like she was begging the universe for mercy, the rain mixing with the tears streaming down her face.

She kept sobbing, the voices in her head only a little quieter now, enough that she could hear the voices speaking out loud.

“Why… why are they all frozen like that? Did she do that?” Chat Noir asked.

“Queen Bee?” Rena Rogue’s voice, accompanied by a gentle touch to her arm. “Queen Bee? Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“Queen Bee?” Ladybug’s voice spoke with the same worry as Rena Rogue’s voice held. “Are you…”

Queen Bee tore her eyes off of the sky to look at Ladybug instead, trying to blink away tears that would not stop coming. “You wanted to know if they’re still in there somewhere? They are. Still there. Still screaming. Still aware of everything that’s going on, but unable to move on their own.” Her voice broke and she stopped talking, watching the horror form on Ladybug’s face.

“How do you…?” she started to whisper. Then she cut herself off. “You can hear them. You can hear them screaming. Oh, Queen Bee.” The pity in her voice was almost palpable, but it didn’t help. “And they’re still in there… this is horrible.”

“We’ll save them,” Rena Rogue said, her voice surprisingly calm. “But first, we’ve got to get them out of here, or Queen Bee is going to lose her mind. That’s too many voices for her to handle, and as upset as they are, if we have ever want her to be okay again, we’ve got to get rid of them so she can’t hear them anymore.”

Chat looked at the shadow creatures and spoke, his voice low and tired. “I am so, so sorry about this,” he said. “But you’ve all got to GET OUT!” Black liquid poured off of him in a wave, eradicating all the frozen shadow creatures at once, sending them crawling back to Papillion, and finally silencing the voices in Queen Bee’s head.

Then he collapsed like a ragdoll.

Ladybug seemed to know that was coming. She was already moving toward him, there in plenty of time to catch him and keep him from hitting the ground.

She looked over at Queen Bee. “Listen, Bee…” she started to say.

Queen Bee didn’t want to know how she was going to finish that sentence. She pushed herself off the ground, away from Rena Rogue’s hand and into the sky, and took off so fast the others couldn’t hope to catch her.

She didn’t realize she was still crying until she clipped the side of a building because she could barely see. She didn’t even know where she was going to go. Pollen’s strength flooding through her was the only thing keeping her any kind of together right now. She already knew that Pollen’s influence would get weaker when she changed back, and she couldn’t handle that right now.

But it meant that she couldn’t go home. She couldn’t go to Sabrina, or her dad. Neither of them would know why Queen Bee was showing up at their house. They didn’t know her, at least as far as they knew. They wouldn’t know how to help her. They would probably be too much in shock to even try.

‘Nathanael wouldn’t,’ Pollen said quietly.

Queen Bee didn’t stop to think that through. She took off in that direction, coming in through his bedroom window.

Nathanael yelped in surprise at her answer. “Queen Bee! What are you…?” She turned to face him before he could finish that sentence, and the question died in his throat. “Are you okay, Queen Bee?”

“Chloe,” Queen Bee sobbed before she could stop herself.

“What about Chloe?” Nathanael asked. “Did she do something to you? Did something happen to her?”

Queen Bee shook her head hard. She stumbled forward blindly, grabbing Nathanael’s shirt and sobbing into his shoulder. “I didn’t… I didn’t know what would happen… I didn’t…. I didn’t mean to… to…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“What… What did you do to Chloe? Is she hurt? Is it bad?” Nathanael asked.

Queen Bee almost laughed. Yeah, you could say that, she thought to herself. But she didn’t say that out loud, settling for just nodding instead. “I… she… I can’t…”

Nathanael put his arms around hesitantly, reaching up slowly to pat her head. “It’ll be alright, Queen Bee. It’ll be all right.”

He didn’t say anything else, just stood there holding her awkwardly until her tears finally stopped falling.


	19. Nathanael

Nathanael felt weird. He had felt weird since last night, when Chloe had actually referred to him as a friend, then disappeared while he was checking the Ladyblog almost immediately after that, only to have Queen Bee show up sobbing and tell him that something had happened to Chloe.

She hadn’t told him what had happened to her. When she’d started to leave and he’d asked, his voice a little more desperate than he wanted to sound, she’d simply said that Chloe wasn’t hurt.

And that would have made him feel better, but when he’d asked if Chloe was going to be okay, Queen Bee had just looked at him silently. She never said she didn’t know, but she didn’t have to. It was written all over her face.

So instead of making him feel better, the knowledge that Chloe wasn’t physically injured just made Nathanael worry more.

He couldn’t even imagine what could have upset Chloe so much. Chloe wasn’t exactly an open person. Her reactions to things she found upsetting were so overdramatized it was impossible to tell if or how much she really cared about things, so he had no idea what could have happened that was bad enough for Queen Bee to be so upset by it.

The fact that Queen Bee seemed to think it was her fault made Nathanael feel even weirder. Maybe she was just being kind of a typical hero, blaming herself for things that were in no way her fault simply because she couldn’t prevent them. Not that he could imagine what could have happened to her. Chloe might not be quite as good a fighter as Queen Bee was, but she’d certainly proven that she was plenty of tough herself, and she had said she couldn’t get possessed. So Nathanael couldn’t imagine what would have happened to her that Queen Bee would feel she should have prevented.

Maybe she had done something to Chloe. Maybe she had hurt her. Nathanael didn’t know how to feel about that. Whatever it was, Queen Bee had obviously not meant to hurt her, and was clearly very upset by it. So he couldn’t help but feel pity for her. He couldn’t help but hope she found a way to forgive herself.

But he also couldn’t help but be kind of mad at her too. If she’d done something that had hurt Chloe…

Nathanael shook his head to snap himself out of that thought and laid his head on the table in front of him. Queen Bee might not be quite as sweet as she seemed, but she was still a lot nicer and more compassionate than Chloe. Whatever she had done that made her feel so bad, she was probably having a tougher time with it than Chloe was.

Nathanel laid his head down on the desk in front of him and waited for the teacher to show up. He’d never been impatient for school to start before, mostly because he was usually asleep by the time it did, but right now he would have paid for it to begin, for the teacher to start talking so he’d have something else to think about.

And maybe, just maybe, he was also waiting for a certain girl with blond hair and a bad attitude to walk in the room so he wouldn’t have to worry about her quite so much.

Seconds passed and the gnawing sensation in the pit of Nathanael’s stomach was only getting worse. Sabrina came in and sat down. Chloe wasn’t with her.

The teacher came in not long later. Chloe still wasn’t there.

Okay, Nathanael thought to himself. So maybe Chloe was late. That didn’t really mean anything. And even if she wasn’t coming at all, that didn’t necessarily mean anything, either. It didn’t mean she was staying home, avoiding coming to school because of anything Queen Bee related. She could easily have just gotten a cold. There was no real reason to worry about her just because she wasn’t here. He wasn’t worried. He was completely, one hundred percent, not worried. Who would worry about Chloe Bourgeois anyway? Even if they were friends, Chloe could- and would- take care of herself physically and emotionally, even at the expense of other people.

So he wasn’t worried. Even if she had been acting kind of strange before Queen Bee had shown up at his house. Even if Queen Bee had obviously been worried about something different, something worse, than the thing that had been bugging Chloe, the thing she’d told him about in very vague terms.

Nathanael was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of someone saying Chloe’s name. He looked up to see the teacher frowning at Sabrina.

“Chloe’s absent again? She’s missed a lot of class lately. Is she alright?” Madame Bustier asked.

Sabrina nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Chloe just caught a bad cold. She sounded horrible when she called me, but she said she should be back in a couple of days.”

Nathanael felt like someone had just dropped him in a vat of ice. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears as Sabrina’s words rang in his head. Chloe just caught a bad cold. She sounded horrible. She sounded horrible. She sounded horrible. She sounded horrible.

Nathanael shook his head to clear his head. No way had Chloe caught a cold. She’d probably said that to Sabrina to keep her from worrying about her, and from the looks of things, she had done a good job. Sabrina was taking notes for her, but didn’t seem to be worried about Chloe beyond that.

It was a good lie, Nathanael supposed. If Chloe had sounded horrible on the phone, saying she had a cold would be a good excuse. Sabrina wouldn’t know to think about any other reason why Chloe would sound hoarse or horrible, but Nathanael couldn’t stop thinking about it. The thoughts ran through his head like lightning, finally stopping at the one Nathanael wanted to think about the least.

Because Chloe didn’t cry. That was the one thing he could still say about her with certainty.

It took approximately five seconds of that thought sitting in his brain before Nathanael couldn’t stand it anymore. He knew he had to do something. He didn’t realize he already was until his chair fell over and he realized he was standing up, the entire class staring at him.

Nathanael hated it when people stared at him. Being the center of attention was his own personal worst nightmare, and now the whole class and the teacher were staring at him.

Nathanael could feel his cheeks heating up as everyone stared at him in shock.

“Nathanael! Sit back down,” Madame Bustier said, clearly trying to sound stern and upset, but mostly just sounding surprised.

Everything in Nathanael wanted to listen to her. He wanted to sit and fade into the background and hope his classmates forgot this moment just like he hoped they forgot how they’d found out he liked Marinette or how he’d run away from Chloe screaming that she was a monster. 

But he couldn’t do that. He shook his head hard. “I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “But I think I’m going to throw up. I have to go.”

He grabbed his bag and booked it out the door.

It wasn’t like he was even lying. Nathanael did feel like he was going to throw up. He couldn’t stand to be in that classroom for another second.

So for the second time in just a few weeks, Nathanael found himself sprinting out of the school building to the surprise of all his classmates, and once again, it was all Chloe’s fault.

He burst out of the school and ran towards the hotel where Chloe lived.

 

Nathanael didn’t know what he had been expecting to see when he entered Chloe’s room, but what he saw wasn’t it.

The room was pristine. It was so clean it didn’t even look like someone really lived there. Even the bed was made, Chloe lying on top of the covers like she’d been too tired to climb into them. She had curled him into a small ball. She didn’t even move when he entered the room.

Nathanael walked around the side of the bed so he could see Chloe better. She didn’t react to that, didn’t seem to care when all he could do was stare at her for a moment in shock.

Chloe stared off into space in a way that could only be described as catatonic. That was certainly a sign that something was wrong, but more than that, her hair was proof that things had definitely gone off the rails.

Chloe’s hair was out of its normal ponytail, so he could see that it barely reached her shoulders. It was jagged, like someone had hacked it off. It was frizzy too, like she hadn’t bothered to do anything with it.

There were dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn’t bothered to sleep. Her makeup was smudged like she hadn’t taken it off last night and hadn’t bothered to put any more on since. She was still wearing the clothes she had been wearing last night too. And yet, she didn’t seem upset that someone was seeing her like this.

“Chloe?” Nathanael said tentatively. “Are you okay? What happened to you? Please tell me you’re not acting like this just because someone cut your hair.” He smiled weakly at her like he was kidding, even though he sort of wasn’t.

Chloe’s lips barely moved when she answered him. “Who cares about hair?” It wasn’t even really a question, not the way she said it.

Nathanael sucked in a sharp breath and answered her anyway. “You do.”

“Not anymore,” Chloe said, her eyes glazed over. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Okay, you’re freaking me out,” Nathanael said. “Seriously, what happened to you?”

Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. “Nothing,” she whispered, her voice full of more sadness and pain and heartbreak than Nathanael had thought she was capable of feeling. “Nothing happened to me.”

Nathanael squinted at her. “What do you mean, nothing happened? Something obviously happened.”

For the first time since he’d come in the room, Chloe actually looked at him, the expression in her eyes terrifying, not because it was angry or malicious the way it normally was, but because it was just so dead. “Just leave me alone.”

Nathanael folded his arms across his chest. “No. You’re clearly not okay. I don’t think you should be alone right now.”

Chloe waved one hand limply at her nightstand. “I’m not alone. The staff is taking care of me.”

Nathanael looked where she was waving and frowned at the bottles of unopened honey. “You’re not eating.” He looked back at her. “You should be eating.

Chloe shook her head slightly. “For once, honey doesn’t sound good. I don’t want to eat, I don’t want to school, and I definitely don’t want to talk to you. Go away.”

It seemed like she was trying to sound angry, or at least bossy, but she wasn’t really pulling it off.

Nathanael shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere until you prove that you’re okay, tell me what’s wrong, or at least eat something.”

Chloe’s hands clenched. “Seriously, Nathanael, get out.” Her voice sounded strained.

“No,” Nathanael said again, not moving an inch. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

Chloe looked down at the bed, her hair falling in front of her face so that he couldn’t see her expression when she spoke. “You want to know what’s wrong?” she asked, and the sound of her voice gave Nathanael chills. He’d never heard Chloe sound so cold. “I didn’t think I was anything like the shadow creatures, even though I almost turned into one.” She pushed herself up on the bed. “But all of the sudden, they’re starting to make a lot more sense to me.” She looked up at him as she put her feet down on the floor, her expression just as dead as it had been before, but a hungry look in her eyes that had definitely not been there before. “I mean, I thought they were crazy for wanting to drink blood all the time, but now, I’m starting to understand why they want it.” Her eyes turned purple as she locked eyes with Nathanael. Then her skin started to change colors as well.

Nathanael stumbled back a couple of steps. “Chloe…” he started to say, reaching out one hand to stop her.

Chloe was up and moving before he had time to finish his sentence. Her hands pushed against his shoulders, pushing him back into the wall behind him. He yelped as she stepped closer to him. One of her hands twisted in his shirt, holding him against the wall as her other hand grabbed his jaw and forced his chin up, exposing his throat, her fangs bared.

“Chloe!” Nathanael gasped. “Chloe, don’t!” He tried to sound assertive, but he was pretty sure that he just sounded scared.

Chloe’s mouth moved closer to his neck and Nathanael inhaled sharply, screwing his eyes shut tight like not being able to see it would somehow make things better.

He braced himself to get bitten, but it never happened. Instead, Chloe’s head fell onto his shoulder.

Nathanael opened his eyes, startled. He looked at Chloe. Her head was buried in his shoulder, so he couldn’t see her face and she wasn’t making any sound, but he could see her shoulders shaking.

Apparently, Chloe did cry.

“Chlo?” Nathanael asked. “Are you… are you okay?”

Chloe didn’t answer. Most likely because it was a stupid question. She was obviously not okay.

Nathanael put his hands tentatively on Chloe’s shoulders. He couldn’t believe that he had a crying girl clinging to him for the second time in two days. He couldn’t believe there were two girls in one city who felt like he was a good person to turn to for comfort.

“I’m sorry, Chloe,” Nathanael said awkwardly. “I don’t know what happened to you, but I’m really sorry.”

Chloe shook her head. “It’s not your fault,” she said into his shoulder, her voice muffled by his shirt. “I just… I couldn’t… I couldn’t help them. I couldn’t… I’m not… I feel like the stupid rain. I’m so useless.”

“The rain…” Nathanael started to say. Then he stopped himself and shook his head. That wasn’t the part to focus on. “You’re not useless, Chloe. Whatever’s going on with you, you’ll figure it out. If there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that when you want something, you make it happen. You don’t just sit there and hope it works. I’ve always admired that about you, actually.”

Chloe looked up at him, her eyes red, her face tear streaked. “Really? Even though I’m… a bully? Even though I learned how to get what I wanted from people when I was young by being mean, and demanding, and never changed how I treated them? I may not be exactly like Papillion, but when it comes to selfishness and meanness, am I really that much different? Why would you…?”

Chloe sounded so broken, and Nathanael couldn’t stand it. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a real hug. “Stop it, Chloe. You’re not like him. You could stand to be nicer to people sometimes, but you’re not a bad person. And yeah, I admire your way of making stuff happen. It’s… cool. Even if the way you do it isn’t, sometimes.” He pulled away from her a little and smiled at her. “Whatever’s going on, whatever you’re dealing with, I know that you’ll find a way to make what you want happen, Chloe.”

She looked at him for a moment with wide eyes. Then she wiped the tears off her face. “I think I prefer it when you call me Chlo.”

“Chlo.” Nathanael corrected himself. “For the record, I usually prefer to be called Nath. Or Nathan. Either is good. Nathan makes me feel like a superhero. Nath makes me feel like a friend.” He shrugged, a little embarrassed that he’d just admitted that. “Both are good.”

Chloe stepped away from him, smiling again. A small smile, broken and uncertain, but at least she wasn’t purple anymore. Or crying. “Okay.” She wiped her face again. “It’s not going to be easy to get what I want though.”

Nathanael tilted his head. “What do you want?”

Chloe looked at him with a fire burning in her eye that Nathanael had definitely seen before, though he couldn’t remember exactly when. “I want my city safe. I want Papillion to stop hurting everyone around him.” Her voice rose in anger and volume as she spoke. “I want him gone, really. He’s crossed too many lines and hurt too many people. I don’t know what he’s after, but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t deserve the power he has, and he needs to pay for what he’s done.”

Nathanael stared at her. “That’s… not what I expected you to say,” he admitted after a long moment of silence. “I don’t think you can do anything about that, except not panicking. Not giving up. Paris has to keep going, so the only way you can help the heroes is to keep going yourself.”

Chloe looked away from him. “You’d be surprised about what I can do.”

Nathanael frowned at her. “What happened to you? What happened to your hair? Something upset you, and now you’re going on about Papillion. He has done anything to you besides the whole vampire thing, has he?”

Chloe stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights. “Um… no… Me talking about Papillion is completely unrelated to what upset me before. And what happened to my hair,” she added quickly. “Nothing to do with Papillion, or anything related to Papillion, or anything else. It’s not related to anything. It’s not related. Of course it’s not. Why would you ever say it was? You’re being ridiculous, Nath. Don’t be ridiculous.”

Nathanael squinted at her. “Okay, I’m just really confused now. I thought Queen Bee did something to upset you.”

Chloe laughed, an odd laugh Nathanael had never heard from her before. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. It wasn’t really her fault though. Unless you blame her for not stopping Papillion. She had a chance, you know.”

Nathanael blinked as he tried to process that. “It’s not her fault for not being able to stop him.”

“Right.” Chloe moved away from him, sitting on the bed and picking up a jar of honey. She stared at it moodily.

“What did happen to your hair?” Nathanael asked. “I’m guessing you didn’t hack it off because you were upset.”

Chloe shook her head. “A fight with a shadow creature didn’t go so well. They keep bugging me. I guess because they can’t figure out how I’m not one of them.”

“Sorry,” Nathanael said again. “That they keep attacking you. And that they cut your hair.”

Chloe shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter.”

“You know, it terrifies me when you say that. You not caring about your hair? That has got to be one of the signs of the apocalypse,” Nathanael said.

She shrugged again. “There are already vampires rampaging around the city. The world as we know it is already over.”

“Yeah,” Nathanael said. He looked away from her for a moment. “You should still come to school. You’ve been missing too much lately. People are starting to get really worried about you.”

Chloe nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Nathanael blinked. “Okay, you’re clearly still not okay, or you would not have said that.”

She smiled, but it was still broken. “No, I’m not.” She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “Me being okay again is probably going to take a while.” She looked up at him. “But you coming to see me helped. Thank you, for that.”

Her blue eyes were softer than he’d ever seen them before, and that did something funny to Nathanael’s heart. He swallowed hard. “Oh, um, it was no big deal. Sabrina said you were sick and I knew from Queen Bee that something else was going on, so I figured I should just stop by…”

Chloe nodded understandingly. “Still, it… it means a lot.” She said that like it was painful. Then she leaned against the bed, her eyes zoning out again.

“I guess I should get back to school,” Nathanael said.

Chloe nodded again. “I’ll see you tomorrow. At school.”

That was probably his cue to leave, but Nathanael stood there for a long moment, unable to tear his eyes off of Chloe.

He’d always known she was pretty, but she was pretty in the way that a storm was; dangerous and angry and not at all interested in doing anything but destroying everything that got in her way. He’d only ever noticed her beauty in her worst moments, times when he wasn’t really even thinking of her as human, mainly because Chloe so rarely had any other kind of moment.

But now, it was impossible not to see how human she was. And it was impossible not to see how gorgeous she was, even sad, even with chopped hair and smudged makeup and wrinkled clothes. Chloe was beautiful, and he was starting to think it might not be as entirely an external beauty as he used to think.

Instantly, Nathanael’s stomach twisted as his entire being was flooded with horror.

He could not have a crush on Chloe. He couldn’t. He already had a crush on Queen Bee, who was pretty much everything that was right with the world, and Chloe was just this annoying, mean girl from school he’d somehow ended up being sort of friends with.

He could not have a crush on her.

He could not have a crush on Chloe Bourgeois.


	20. Chloe

Queen Bee stood at the edge of the roof, looking down at the heroes below her, fighting the shadow creatures.

Just go, she thought to herself. Just step off the edge. Fly down there. Help them fight.

She took one step toward the edge. A vampire lunged toward Chat. He knocked it away from himself, but Queen Bee still found herself flashing back. She saw herself being bitten by a vampire- twice. She saw herself fighting Bird Brain. She remembered the memories of all those shadows whose minds she had heard, of them being attacked and attacking other people, and she couldn’t take another step, couldn’t make herself fly.

She started to shake and sank to the ground, curling up with her arms around her legs and her head resting on her knees, trying to force herself to focus on her breathing. ‘I can’t do this,’ she admitted to herself and Pollen at the same time. ‘I don’t want to die again, and I don’t think I can fight them anyway. They’re just people who had something horrible happen to them. Not that I care about them, because I don’t. I mean, I don’t care about anyone…’

‘It’s okay, Chlo,’ Pollen said, her voice far more gentle than Queen Bee would have thought she was capable of. ‘They can manage without you for one more night. You don’t have to force yourself to do this if you’re not ready. Just like you don’t have to force yourself to go to school tomorrow if you’re not ready for that. You’ve been through a lot. It’s okay if it takes a little time for you to get back onto your feet.’

Queen Bee took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. ‘No. No, I’m never going to feel okay again unless I start being there for my… friends. And that starts tonight, with me actually being there for the other heroes for once. And then tomorrow, I’ll go to school, and I’ll try to actually be nice to people. Or something. Even though I’m not exactly sure how to do that.’

‘I can help you,’ Pollen offered.

‘Considering the number of times you’ve referred to me as an airhead, I kind of doubt your ability to do that,’ Queen Bee joked lightly, trying to sound a little more normal.

‘Oh, please,’ Pollen said. ‘Just because I’m the queen of insults doesn’t mean I can’t also be the queen of niceness.’

Queen Bee thought about that for a second. ‘I guess you’re right.’ She pushed herself up to her feet again and looked down at the heroes. ‘Are you sure they’re going to be okay without me?’

‘Forever? Definitely not. But for tonight? They should be fine.’

Queen Bee nodded. Pollen was right. They could hold their own without her. They’d been doing it for long enough.

But she didn’t go home. She stayed there on the edge of the roof and watched them fight until all the shadow creatures were gone.

 

Chloe could feel the eyes of her classmates on her as she stepped into the room. They probably would have stared at her anyway, what with all of her weird absences lately, but she imagined her hair wasn’t helping anything.

She kept her chin up and glared at all of them until they stopped staring at her. Except Nathanael. She couldn’t glare at him, couldn’t even make herself meet his eyes.

She took her seat, head held high and body language daring anyone to mess with her.

“Chloe?” Sabrina said tentatively. “Your… hair… it’s….”

“Isn’t it fabulous?” Chloe asked in a tone that brooked no disagreements. She fluffed her ridiculously short ponytail like she absolutely loved it. “Isn’t it just the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?”

Sabrina nodded quickly. “Yeah, it’s beautiful. Of course it is, your hair is always beautiful.”

“Isn’t it just?” Chloe asked, smiling so widely that no one would question her sincere confidence and total happiness with her hair.

‘No, Chloe,’ Pollen said. ‘Nice people say ‘thanks, you’re so sweet.’ They do not take people complimenting them as an opportunity to brag.’

Chloe’s grin faltered a little. “I mean, thank you, Sabrina. You’re so sweet.” She laughed awkwardly as Sabrina stared at her in shock.

Sabrina wasn’t the only one. Chloe could feel everyone else’s eyes on her again. She sent a glare over her shoulder that had them all looking away immediately.

Except Nathanael. He met her eyes and raised his eyebrows like really, Chloe? Is that the best you can do?

She spread her hands out like how else am I supposed to do this? She tried not to look panicked, but she was pretty sure she looked at least a little panicked. She felt like someone had just asked her to ride a bull at the rodeo. She had no idea how to do what she was trying to do, and she was pretty sure she was going to last about three seconds before she fell off and landed flat on her face with everyone laughing at her.

She wasn’t sure what expression she had on her face, but it must have been good one, because Nathanael’s lips started to twitch. Then he put his hand up to his mouth to try and muffle his giggles. Chloe glared at him, less because he was laughing at her, and more because no one should get to look that cute just because they were giggling. It was wildly unfair.

Her glare just made Nathanel giggle harder. Then, without any warning, Nathanael’s eyes widened in horror and he slumped down in his seat so he could bang his head gently against the desk.

Chloe had no idea what that was about. She turned around in her seat and pretended she hadn’t been looking at him, just in case someone noticed and blamed her, even though she could see literally no way in which that could possibly be her fault.

Madame Bustier stepped into the classroom. Chloe couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. Now her classmates would either be listening and taking notes (Sabrina, Max, and possibly Mylene or Juleka) or so bored they’d be too busy either trying not to fall asleep (Kim, Ivan, Alix, Nino), trying to fall asleep (Nathanael) or entertaining themselves with their phone or a paper or their desk partner (Rose, Marinette, Alya, Adrien, and possibly Nathanael, if he couldn’t fall asleep). Regardless of what they did when the teacher started droning on and on, they would not be thinking about Chloe or her hair and they would not be staring at her. So she could relax. And possibly fall asleep. She hadn’t exactly slept great in the couple of nights since she’d made the horrible mistake of reading the shadow creatures’ minds.

‘That ability sucks, by the way,’ Chloe said. ‘Mind reading? Not a fun ability. Why couldn’t I just break everything like Chat Noir or make things and fix things and heal people like Ladybug? Or see through lies and create illusions like Red? Why’d I get saddled with mind reading? Until two days ago I didn’t care what other people thought, except my dad and Adrien. Sometimes. Now I care, but I don’t want to know. This is a lame ability.’

‘That’s not my ability,’ Pollen said. ‘That’s just a byproduct of my ability, just like the ability to fix things and heal people is just a byproduct of Tikki’s abilities to create things.’

‘Your ability isn’t mindreading?’ Chloe asked. ‘Great. It’s something even worse than mindreading, isn’t it? Do I even want to know what it is?’

‘I don’t know. I guess that depends on how you look at it,’ Pollen said. ‘And if you want to know what it is, you’re just going to have to figure it out for yourself. It’s not that hard. Just think about how a hive works.’

‘Bees make honey and feed it to the queen. That’s how a hive works,’ Chloe said.

‘Yeah, maybe try thinking a little harder than that,’ Pollen said.

Chloe was about to respond when she noticed the teacher staring at her expectantly. “Did you get that, Chloe?” Madame Bustier asked.

‘What’d did she say?’ Chloe asked, panicked.

‘I don’t know. I was talking to you,’ Pollen said.

‘What is the point in there being two of us if neither of us is going to pay attention? And aren’t you supposed to be the old, wise, mature one?’ Chloe asked. She smiled nervously and nodded at Madame Bustier. “Yep. Totally was got it. Was totally paying attention to literally everything you just said.”

‘Very convincing, Chloe,’ Pollen said.

‘That’s a lot of sarcasm from someone whose supposed to be teaching me how to be nice to people,’ Chloe pointed out, still smiling nervously at Madame Bustier.

Madame Bustier sighed and shook her head. “I just announced a partner project. Your partners have already been assigned to you.”

Chloe groaned. That meant she probably wasn’t going to get to be with Sabrina or Adrien. With her luck, she’d either be stuck with Kim, who would probably stare at her the whole time he was supposed to be working on the project, or even worse, Marinette. How was she supposed to be nicer to people if people forced her to work with Marinette? Chloe was way too new to this nice thing to pull off being nice to her yet.

Madame Bustier continued like she didn’t even care that Chloe was upset about being assigned a partner. “Anyway, your partner can fill you in on any of the details of the project you missed. Go back there and sit by Nathanael so the two of you can get started on your project.”

Chloe froze, staring at Madame Bustier. ‘I’m partners with Nathanael? I can’t be partners with Nathanael.’

‘I thought you and Nathanael were friends now,’ Pollen said. ‘Isn’t it good to be his partner?’

‘Well, it might have been if I hadn’t tried to bite him yesterday! And I cried in front of him. I can’t face him right now,’ Chloe said.

Madame Bustier sighed. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m sure that you can handle being partners with someone that isn’t Sabrina once in a while.”

Chloe pushed herself away from her desk and stood up. She walked silently back to join Nathanael at his desk. He wasn’t banging his head on the desk anymore, but he sank low in his chair as Chloe walked up, like he was trying to disappear completely. From the look on his face, Chloe would have been willing to bet that he was wishing he had the ability to turn invisible right now. 

She sat next to him and Madame Bustier kept talking, assigning the rest of the class partners. Kim got partnered with Alix and immediately turned around to glare at Nathanael like it was somehow his fault. Nathanael sank down even further in his chair. At this point, Chloe wasn’t even sure exactly how he was staying on his chair anymore.

Chloe leaned over and whispered to Nathanael. “So what’s the project, anyway?”

He flinched. Chloe didn’t get why he was acting so scared of her now. He’d barely even acted scared of her yesterday when she’d almost bitten him. “We have to make an art project and a presentation about one of the themes of the literature we just read.”

Chloe frowned. “I didn’t read it.”

Nathanael pressed his lips together like he was trying not to laugh, no longer looking like he was scared. “I sort of didn’t either.”

Chloe huffed. “Well, aren’t we a good team? Way to pick ‘em, Bustier.”

Nathanael shrugged. “I can kind of see what she was thinking. I mean, there’s no way I’m going to help present and there’s no way you’re going to help do the art, so maybe she figured we’d balance each other out.”

Madame Bustier finished partnering people up and gave them a few minutes to talk about their projects before they moved on.

Nathanael sat up in his seat and pushed a piece of paper over to Chloe. “I figured you’d ask me for this sooner or later, so…”

Chloe blinked at him. He was acting weird again, his eyes kept flicking away from her to look at literally anything else in the room and then back to her, never staying on her for more than a fraction of a second. He squirmed in his seat too, his fingers drumming against the table like he had more nervous energy to burn than he knew what to do with.

Chloe stared at him for a moment, confused by his behavior. Then she looked down at the paper he’d pushed at her.

It was a drawing of her, with her hair cut short. She was sitting at her desk, her head resting on her hand like she was bored, but she didn’t look bored. She looked like she was day dreaming, her expression almost wistful.

She looked pretty with her ponytail short, but for once, that wasn’t what Chloe focused on.

She’d seen a lot of pictures of herself that Nathanael had drawn before now, but this one was different, and she couldn’t exactly tell why. It was just something about the drawing that was different, something that made her look softer, and sweeter, even though she couldn’t tell exactly how he’d made her look softer. She couldn’t guess at why he would have done it either, and she doubted he’d done it on purpose.

At least, she hoped he hadn’t done it on purpose. She hoped that he hadn’t drawn her looking so much like Queen Bee on purpose.

“Thanks,” Chloe said quietly.

Nathanael jumped. “Yeah. Uh… there’s probably no point in me drawing you again unless you do your hair different or something.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows at him. “What, are you getting sick of drawing me or something?”

Nathanael shrank back into his seat and looked away from her. “Okay.”

Chloe squinted at him. “Okay? What kind of answer is that?” She folded her arms across her chest and looked away from him.

She could still see him out of the corner of her eyes. He was squirming again. “I mean… it’s just not fun to keep drawing the same people over and over again unless something about them is changing, so if your hairstyle changes or something…”

Chloe slapped her hand on the table and turned back around to glare at him. “Really? Cause it never seemed to bother you when you were drawing Marinette, or Ladybug, and it doesn’t seem to bother you when you draw Queen Bee.”

Nathanael glanced around quickly. Some of their classmates were looking at them now. Chloe didn’t care, but Nathanael definitely seemed to. He flushed red as he looked back at Chloe, hissing at her under his breath. “Stop it! I am not talking with you about this right now.”

Chloe threw her hands up in the air. “Oh, well, I’m sorry I’m not as cool as Queen Bee is!”

It took her a second to realize what she had just said. Something inside her shut down, and Chloe slouched forward and faceplanted on the desk.

“Madame Bustier?” Kim called out. “I think Nathanael broke Chloe.”

“What? No. I didn’t…” Nathanael’s voice trailed off.

“What happened, Nathanael?” Madame Bustier asked.

“I have no idea,” Nathanael said. “She was talking, and then she was putting her head down on the desk, not moving.”

Someone poked Chloe in the side. Chloe didn’t react.

“Yeah, she’s not moving,” Nathanael said again.

‘Chlo?’ Pollen asked. ‘Are you okay?’

‘No. I’m jealous of Queen Bee. Do you know what the problem with that is, Pollen?’

‘You are Queen Bee so you’re jealous of yourself, which is weird and pointless?’

‘No. The problem is that Queen Bee isn’t me. She isn’t anyone. She’s an act that I put on because you keep yelling at me to be nice. Because I have to seem different as Queen Bee than I do as Chloe. She’s just a fantasy. How am I supposed to compete with that?’ Chloe asked. She sighed. ‘I have more in common with the shadow creatures than I do with her.’

‘Oh, please. Queen Bee is you. She’s just you when you admit to yourself that you’re not a kid anymore and adopt some adult behavior. She’s you when you admit what every bee knows.’

‘And what’s that?’ Chloe asked, annoyed.

Pollen sighed heavily. ‘You’re never going to get it on your own, are you? Fine. You want to know how bees work? They know one simple thing: do what’s right for the hive. Everyone working together for one single goal. Protect the hive. Grow the colony. Make the honey. No petty vendettas, no squabbling. Everyone takes one of the roles and does what they need to do with the abilities they have because they know it’s not about them. It’s about the survival of the hive. The good of the hive.’

‘I…’ Chloe started to say. And then the school alarms went off. ‘Oh, great. What now?’

‘Possessed people attacking, I’m guessing,’ Pollen said.

Madame Bustier started to shepherd the students out, grabbing onto Alya and Marinette when they both tried to make excuses to leave. Chloe assumed Alya wanted to sneak away so she could take videos of the fight for the Ladyblog. She didn’t know why Marinette wanted to break away from the rest of the class. Maybe she was scared and wanted to go hide or something.

‘Not nice, Chloe,’ Pollen said. ‘And also, not accurate.’

Chloe didn’t have time to answer her. She was too busy grabbing onto Nathanael and tripping over the desk in an unnecessarily dramatic way, dragging Nathanael with her to create a distraction that would allow Adrien to break away from the group.

Nathanael yelled like he knew he was supposed to be as loud as possible. Both of them toppled to the ground, effectively drawing the attention of everyone in the class, including Madame Bustier.

Chloe met Adrien’s eyes, and he backed away from the rest of the class and sprinted away. Alya and Marinette both tried to pull away as well, but Madame Bustier had a death grip on their arms.

‘I’m really glad that worked,’ Chloe said, pushing herself off the ground with a groan and brushing her knees off. ‘Because it was way too embarrassing not to.’

‘But it was a great job of taking one for the team,’ Pollen said.

“Come on, Chloe,” Madame Bustier said. “We need to get out of here.”

“Got that right,” Chloe said. Then she was sprinting past the rest of the class, booking it down the stairs. “I’m very important so I’m going first!” she yelled.

She just had time to hear Kim say “Wow, she’s seriously fast,” before she was out of her classmates’ line of seat.

She took an immediate detour, ducking into an empty classroom. She transformed as she ran, so that by the time she leaped out of the window and took off into the sky, she was already Queen Bee.

Queen Bee landed on the roof of the school, looking down at the possessed humans in the front of it. They weren’t attacking anyone yet. At least not anyone but Chat Noir, who was doing a decent job holding them off with his baton, and obviously wasn’t worried about getting beaten, judging by the number of puns he was making.

But something seemed wrong. Queen Bee couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but something about this was definitely bugging her.

She shook her head and flew down. Ladybug would probably figure it out show up soon enough anyway. She’d probably be able to figure out whatever it was in no time.

Madame Bustier came out of the school building, pulling Alya and Marinette along with her. Several of the possessed people immediately headed toward the class. Chat blocked a couple of them with his staff. Queen Bee shot into the air, knocking into the possessed humans and sending them crashing to the ground.

Everything was going fine. But then one of the possessed humans got a little too close to the class, and when Queen Bee moved to stop it, her hand brushed against Marinette.

And Queen Bee heard a voice inside Marinette’s head. A voice that was definitely not Marinette.

‘…have to get away so that you can transform into Ladybug!”

Queen Bee froze in place. Marinette didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t think Marinette had even noticed her brushing against her.

‘Oops,’ Pollen said. ‘Did I mention I can always hear the other kwamis if they’re in close range to me? And some of my more powerful hosts are able to hear the kwamis too, if they touch their hosts. Which isn’t a problem unless said hosts are untransformed. Forgot to warn you about that.’

‘Marinette is… Marinette is… Marinette is… Marinette is… But… how… what… but… she…’

“Queen Bee!” Chat called. “Snap out of it and help me already.”

Queen Bee looked at him and then back at Marinette. In the midst of her shock and disbelief, she heard Lila’s voice speaking, telling them all that she knew Ladybug’s secret identity. She’d said that the same day she’d come to the school and attacked Adrien. Hadn’t Marinette been with him that day?

If Lila knew about Marinette… well, Queen Bee had figured that Ladybug could take care of herself. But Marinette… they were an awful lot of people someone could hurt if they wanted to get to Marinette. They couldn’t hold Lila forever, and if she got out, knowing what she did…

‘You know, if you wanted to, we could probably fix that,’ Pollen suggested.

Queen Bee looked toward Chat. He might have asked for her help, but he clearly didn’t really need it. He had this handled.

And besides, even if he didn’t, Ladybug was already here.

Queen Bee turned and shot into the sky, heading toward Master Fu’s.

 

It didn’t take her long to get there, or maybe it just seemed like that because of what Pollen was telling her. She flew in through the window. Master Fu gave her a startled look. “Queen Bee? Why are you…?”

Queen Bee didn’t wait for him to finish that sentence. Instead, she raced past him, heading into the room where Lila was still locked up in her turtle shell.

Master Fu followed her into the room. Queen Bee looked back at him. “Drop the shell,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows at her curiously, but then he waved his hand and the turtle shell dropped. He was trusting her. Of course he was.

Queen Bee looked at Lila. “So you think you know Ladybug’s identity, do you?” she asked out loud. Internally, she directed a very different question at Pollen. ‘Are you sure this is going to work?’

‘Yep,’ Pollen said. ‘Just do what I tell you to do.’

Lila smirked at her. “I take it from your expression that you’ve figured out who she is as well. Sure you still want to be on her side? You and I both know she doesn’t have what it takes to save Paris.”

‘You know how I’ve been encouraging you to be nicer?’ Pollen asked. ‘Definitely don’t do that right now.’

Queen Bee flashed Lila a grin. “You know, I’ve always been a big believer that she’s not as sweet as everyone thinks she is. Only now, I’m incredibly glad that she isn’t. That girl’s made of tougher stuff than you realize, and your Papillion? He definitely isn’t. The Bird Brain is a good fighter, I’ll give you that, but just because she could beat me doesn’t mean she could beat all of us. And if you’re the best sidekick they could come up with, then I’m hardly worried. I bet you don’t even know who Ladybug really is. That would require you being smart, and we both know all you are is a good liar.”

Lila scoffed. “Oh, please. Everyone who’s ever seen them near each other knows the Bug has a soft spot for Adrien. And when that sweet little blue eyed beauty went all green monster on me when I was threatening Adrien, I knew she had to be Ladybug.”

Queen Bee’s eyes narrowed. So Lila did know that Marinette was Ladybug, but it seemed she didn’t have a clue that Adrien was Chat. And she thought she was clever.

‘Alright,’ Pollen said. ‘You know how she knows. Do it now, just like I told you.’

Queen Bee raised one hand and looked Lila dead in the eyes. “You know, you’re not the only person in this room who knows that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug. But in about a minute, you’ll be the only one who doesn’t.”

Then she focused with everything she had.

A giant yellow stinger formed slowly in front of her hand, growing bigger and brighter and seeming to take all of Queen Bee’s strength with it.

Then it fired. Lila screamed as the stinger flew into her, and then Queen Bee could hear Lila’s thoughts in her head.

Among the dozens of memories that flashed through her, Queen Bee saw Marinette’s fury when Lila threatened Adrien. She saw Lila connect the dots between her and Ladybug.

And she saw that memory fade away into nothingness, until Lila no longer remembered who Ladybug was.

Queen Bee fell to her knees as the light disappeared. So did Lila.

Queen Bee looked up at Master Fu. “You might want to put the turtle shell back up,” she gasped.

Her vision went blurry for a moment. She was vaguely aware of a green glow in front of her, of Master Fu pulling her up and moving her into the other room, of him handing her a cup and helping her sip it.

Queen Bee’s vision cleared as a familiar taste flooded her mouth. Honey.

Master Fu’s face came into focus in front of her. “That was a very kind thing for you to do,” he said. “Protecting Ladybug’s identity like that. Especially since I know she isn’t exactly your best friend.”

“Yeah, it’s going to take me weeks to process that Ladybug is…” Queen Bee started to say. She cut herself off with a shake of her head. “It was Pollen’s idea, and I figured, it’s one thing Papillion would never do, right?”

Master Fu tilted his head and studied her. “You worry that you will fall under Papillion’s control.”

Queen Bee shrugged. “All the other shadow creatures did. And I know I’m not a full shadow creature, but little by little, I seem to be getting more and more like them.”

Master Fu shook his head. “Oh, I would say that you are nothing like them. As different as blood and honey. And you are certainly not at all like their master.”

The door swung open and Ladybug, Chat, and Rena Rogue burst into the room. “Queen Bee!” Rena Rogue cried out anxiously. “Are you okay? You came to help Chat, and then you were just gone?”

Ladybug didn’t look nearly as worried at her. Actually, she looked kind of mad. “Look, I appreciate you helping us,” she said, not sounding at all appreciative. “But it would be nice to know if we can count on you to stick around through a fight. It’s starting to seem like we can’t. You need to make up your mind. Are you part of this team, or not?”

Queen Bee forced herself to stand, trying not to wobble. “Don’t you snap at me,” she said coldly, looking at Ladybug with eyes that probably looked perfectly sweet, thanks to Pollen. “I’m not the one who let Papillion’s best henchmen find out my secret identity. The only thing you should be saying to me is thank you. Do you know how bad that would have been if I hadn’t fixed it?”

Ladybug froze, her eyes blowing wide. “What? What are you talking about?”

“She erased her memories,” Master Fu said helpfully. “Did I mention that is one of the powers of the Queen Bee? You can heal. She causes amnesia. Everyone has different strengths.”

Ladybug looked back at Chloe. “Seriously? You… you made her forget my secret identity.”

“Yep,” Queen Bee said.

“Thank you so…” Ladybug started to say, although she still seemed to be in shock.

Queen Bee held up her hand. “Before you start proclaiming your undying gratitude, I should probably mention one small detail. I kind of know who you are now.”

Everyone’s jaws dropped, except Master Fu, who seemed to be fighting back a smile.

“You what?” Ladybug asked, sounding a lot less shocked and a lot more angry.

Rena Rogue raised her hand. “Um, in the interest of full disclosure, I should probably mention that I know it too.”


	21. Nino

Nino had not exactly planned on spending his morning hiding in a closet.

It wasn’t completely his fault. Master Fu had asked him to come over again yesterday, to do more training in preparation to become the new were-turtle (which was about five kinds of awesome if you asked Nino). They’d both gotten too absorbed in what they were doing, and suddenly it was too late for him to walk home alone. He’d called to tell his parents that he was going to stay at a “friend’s” house and spent the night at Master Fu’s rather than make someone take him home. It all would have been fine if he’d woken up in the morning when his phone alarm had gone off.

But he hadn’t, and Wayzz (who Nino had screamed at like a little girl when he’d first appeared but who was still nice to Nino anyway), not used to waking up to alarms because apparently, Master Fu didn’t need alarms, had turned it off without realizing what it was.

Which was how Nino had ended up being there much later in the morning that he was supposed to. He’d woken up and been on his feet for less than five seconds before Master Fu had shoved him unceremoniously into a closet. He’d understood why a moment later when he’d heard Queen Bee’s voice.

It had surprised him at first, to learn that even the superheroes didn’t know each other’s identities, but after Master Fu had pointed out some of the safety issues involved with anyone knowing someone’s secret identity, it had kind of started to make sense. Nino didn’t particularly like the idea though, especially after he realized he was going to have to wait for Queen Bee to leave before he could leave the closet.

But Nino was a reasonably patient person. He was perfectly capable of chilling in an old guy’s closet full of items a lot stranger than Nino for a short while.

But then the other heroes showed up, and then the arguing started.

And Nino was still hiding in the closet, feeling like the most awkward person to ever awkward.

He tried twiddling his thumbs to see if that made him feel less awkward about hiding in a closet while superheroes who didn’t know he was there yelled at each other. It didn’t.

“What do you mean, you know my identity? We aren’t supposed to know each other’s identities! I thought we explained that to you! What, you just decided it didn’t matter and started trying to figure it out anyway?”

Nino winced in sympathy for Rena Rogue. Ladybug sounded super mad.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Chill, girl. I didn’t figure it out on purpose. And it’s not really my fault, either. I just kind of… saw through your disguise when you stepped into the smoke, that day at the school.” There was a second’s pause before Rena Rogue kept talking. “And I’m guessing that your kwami warned you not to do that. But someone can be a little bit of a hothead, who’s not always all that great at listening to others. Apparently, not even her kwami sometimes, in spite of the fact that kwami’s have been around for centuries and know way more than we do.” Rena Rogue’s voice was light and teasing and affectionate, taking the edge off her words but not completely erasing the insults.

Nino’s eyes widened. Sure, Rena Rogue was a superhero in her own right, who was an equal of Ladybug’s, who spent a lot of time with her, and was therefore in every way more likely to know Ladybug’s flaws than he was, and in a more of position to call attention to those flaws when they caused problems, but he still couldn’t believe that she had just said that to Ladybug’s face.

Nino braced himself for more yelling from Ladybug, but to his surprise, her voice was actually quieter when she responded. “There were people in danger. I couldn’t just stand there, staying out of the smoke. I had to help them. And I didn’t know that was what was going to happen.”

Nino blinked several times, even more surprised now. It was hard to tell just from her voice, but it sure sounded like Ladybug, hero of Paris, their best line of defense, the only cure for possession, was pouting.

Rena Rogue spoke again, her voice gentler now, as someone’s voice might be if they were trying to comfort a pouting person, which simply added credibility to Nino’s impossible theory. “You know, I didn’t either. I knew I was using Trixx’s ability to see through illusions instead of creating them, but what I saw- in everyone, not just you- well, let’s just say that the truths that I saw were not at all what I was expecting to see.” There was another brief pause. “If I had known I’d see your civilian identity, I would have at least tried not to look at you.”

“You know, if it makes you feel any better, I found out your identity by accident too,” Queen Bee said. Her voice was such a perfect mixture of acid and honey that Nino couldn’t tell if she was trying to be helpful and was just so upset about something else that she sounded kind of mad, or if she was trying to be mean while pretending to be helpful. “And, like Rena Rogue, I only found out because of my powers. Believe me, I would never have guessed your identity on my own. Like, not in a million years. You? Are you kidding…” she started to say, laughing a little. Then she stopped in mid-sentence and changed directions, her tone a lot less acid and a lot more nervous. “Anyway, it wasn’t your fault. Doesn’t that make you feel better?”

“No!” Ladybug snapped, though her voice now seemed to be full of general frustration instead of specific anger. “Does everyone know my secret identity now?” Her tone left Nino unsure if he should be worried about her throwing a chair at someone or her breaking down in tears. He wasn’t even sure which one scared him more.

Nino shook his head adamantly, as if his complete ignorance of her secret identity would somehow make her feel better despite her complete ignorance of his presence.

“No!” Chat said. His frustration was on a very different level from hers. Nino wasn’t even slightly worried about Chat throwing a chair at someone. He was extremely worried about Chat breaking down in tears. “I still don’t! Am I seriously the only one here who doesn’t know who you are?”

The sound of his voice was so pitiful Nino’s heart twinged in sympathy. He put one hand on the closet door and tried to send happy thoughts in Chat’s direction.

There was a moment of silence before Queen Bee spoke, her voice completely unsympathetic and vaguely annoyed. Nino glared at her for her insensitivity. Well, he glared at the closet door for her insensitivity, but that was pretty much the same thing under these conditions. “No, you’re not,” she said impatiently. “Lila doesn’t know it, obviously.”

“She knew! You had to erase her memory!” Chat vented. Then he made a sound so sad that Nino didn’t even need to see him to know he was drooping. “Everyone gets to know who my lady is but me,” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry, Chat,” Ladybug said, sounding as sympathetic as Nino felt. But she couldn’t have been as sympathetic as Nino, because her voice wasn’t muffled the way it would have been if she had Chat in a bear hug like Nino would have. Something about Chat being so sad just made Nino want to do something to make it better, the same way that Adrien being down did. “But it’s not safe for any of us to know each other’s identities. What if we get possessed, what if they get their hands on a were with some other ability that lets them control our minds or make us tell the truth? It’s not safe that Rena Rogue knows who I am, it’s not safe that Queen Bee…”

“I actually don’t think you need to worry about me,” Queen Bee said, her voice quiet but somehow still cutting through Ladybug’s slowly rising volume with ease.

Nino tilted his head. What made her think that?

Ladybug echoed his question out loud, which was good, because it wasn’t like Queen Bee could hear him asking it in his head.

“Obviously because if I got captured, I would erase my own memories of everything I knew about you guys so I couldn’t give them any information on you,” Queen Bee said. She said that incredibly casually, like she was talking about going shopping or playing a game, but didn’t fit at all with what she was saying. Actually, the casualness in her voice just made the fact that she was talking about erasing her own memories seem even weirder.

“I… you can do that?” Rena Rogue asked, the tone of her voice matching Nino’s feelings exactly.

Queen Bee kept talking like she hadn’t said anything. “So me knowing any of your identities isn’t a problem any more than Master Fu knowing your identities is a problem. I mean, if you’re really freaked out about it, I could erase Rena Rogue’s memory of yours, but if I do that, I’m also going to erase yours and Chat’s memories of mine. It’s hardly fair that you get to put me in danger by knowing my identity while you’re perfectly safe because I’ve erased everyone’s memories of yours.”

“Whoa, slow down a sec,” Rena Rogue said, her voice full of emotions Nino couldn’t quite identify. It probably would have been easier if he’d been able to see her face, but he didn’t exactly have x-ray vision yet, and probably wouldn’t even once he was the were-turtle. “They know your identity. That’s what you’re saying? They know who you are?”

“Yep,” Queen Bee said, popping the p. She sounded bored. Nino frowned. Something was definitely off about Queen Bee today. 

Actually, they all seemed upset. Not just upset. Off. It made Nino want to crawl out of the closet and help them, but he couldn’t let them know he was the one Master Fu was talking about making the next were-turtle. So he stayed put, reminding himself that he’d get his chance soon enough.

Queen Bee kept talking. “So I could erase all the memories of secret identities we have, or we could, you know, trust each other. That’s my vote. Makes my job way easier.”

Ladybug snapped out a response with a voice so cutting Nino found himself flinching like it had physically hurt him. “It’s not about trust.” There was a brief moment of silence. “Not anymore!” Ladybug said, her voice less cutting now and more defensive. “Look, I admit I had a hard time accepting another were-fox after Volpina. And I admit I had a hard time getting used to the idea that Queen Bee was a superhero when I remembered your civilian self every time I looked at you. I guess I did doubt your guys’ ability to be a hero just like I doubted my own at first, and I’m sorry about that. But it’s different now. I believe in you guys just as much as I believe in Chat Noir. But we have no idea what powers we’re up against. I mean, look at Queen Bee! She reads minds!”

Nino’s eyes widened. Queen Bee read minds? Did she know he was in here then? Had Master Fu locked him in some kind of mind-reader proof closet or was it possible that she was reading his mind right now?

There had to be some way he could figure that out. He considered that for a second. Then he started singing the most obnoxious song he knew at the top of his mental lungs, figuring that if Queen Bee could read his mind, it would eventually driver crazy and then he would know.

“… good point,” Rena Rogue was saying, her voice full of reluctant admission. “We might end up giving up each other’s secrets without even meaning to.”

“You’re right, that is a good point,” Queen Bee, her voice dripping with sarcasm. And yet, she still managed to sound sweet. How did she do that? Nino was fascinated by the way her voice seemed to stay sweet as honey while still perfectly expressing annoyance or boredom or sarcasm. In fact, the sweetness just made the sarcasm more cutting. “You know what else we don’t know? We don’t know if we’re going to get hit by a meteor when we step outside the door. Guess we better just stay inside forever!”

“That’s different,” Ladybug snapped.

“Not really,” Chat said, his voice quiet and full of aching sincerity that was so much harder to listen to than the moping tone he’d taken earlier. “Sometimes being perfectly safe isn’t a good thing. Because to be perfectly safe, you also have to be alone. And sometimes, being alone is worse than things you’re protecting yourself from.”

His words had Nino thinking about Adrien. About how much he’d been willing to do to get to go to school, to get to meet kids his age and get out of the safety of his father’s house. If anyone understood that sometimes it was worth it to take risks to be close to other people, it was Adrien.

And maybe, Chat Noir understood that too.

Silence stretched on for a second, and then Chat Noir started talking again, speaking so fast his words jumbled together. “I mean, I’m guessing. I can see how that could be true in certain situations, at least.”

“We’re not alone,” Ladybug protested, though her voice was lacking some of the conviction it had held before. “We still have each other. We don’t need to know everything about each other to have each other’s backs…”

Queen Bee interrupted her, and this time the honey in her voice was combined with a sympathy and a knowingness that had Nino completely convinced that she understood Ladybug’s point but still knew better, that she was the one who was right, even before he processed the words she was saying.

Nino made a mental note to avoid arguing with both Ladybug and Queen Bee once he became a were-turtle. 

“Look, I get what you’re saying. I do. But you’re only looking at con list of this situation. You should probably take a look at the pros before you make any decisions.”

“Like what?” Ladybug asked, her voice equal parts challenge and curiosity.

Queen Bee didn’t answer right away, and when she spoke, her voice was strange, full of emotions Nino couldn’t begin to identify. “Sometimes, having someone find out a secret that you didn’t mean for them to know just means that they can help you in ways that you would never have thought of. Help you get close to people that you thought could never understand. Maybe losing a secret isn’t always as bad as you think it’s going to be.” Everything was silent for a moment before Queen Bee spoke again, the strange emotions gone. “Not to mention, for all we know, you might be safer for us knowing who you really are. Makes it easier to look after you, and, like you said we don’t know what we’ll be facing. Look, maybe just give it chance before you make me do something boring like erasing memories.”

There was a long pause. “Fine,” Ladybug said, even though she sounded like she’d prefer to be saying anything else. “For now, no erasing any superhero’s memory. But if we ever catch wind of someone not on our side having the ability to read minds or do anything else that would force us to tell…”

“I make everyone forget any secret identities that aren’t their own,” Queen Bee finished for her, sounding bored again. “Agreed. You think there’s going to be any trouble like that, you just say the word and all the memories go bye-bye.”

“What about me?” Chat asked.

“This is just a trial run,” Ladybug said. “If knowing each other’s identities turns out to be a positive, then you and I can talk about… sharing.”

There was another long pause. “Okay,” Queen Bee said slowly, sounding strangely concerned. “So now that that’s settled, sort of, should we go back to our lives now? Or do we have more yelling that we need to do?”

“No, I think we’re good.” Ladybug sighed heavily. “Let’s all just get back to our civilian lives before anyone gets suspicious.”

Nino heard the sound of a door opening, then footsteps, then a door closing, and then Master Fu was pulling the closet door open and looking down at Nino with wide eyes. “I’m sorry about that.”

Nino crawled out of the closet and got to his feet. He looked toward the front door even though he knew the other heroes were already gone.

“What did you think of your future team?” Master Fu asked.

Nino looked back at him and grinned. “I think they’re fantastic! I can’t wait to join them. I mean, if I get to,” he added quickly, since technically he was still in training and Master Fu might still change his mind about letting Nino be a superhero. Then he frowned. “But um… if Queen Bee can read minds…?”

Master Fu started shaking his head before Nino even got the chance to finish the question. “Queen Bee couldn’t have heard you. She can’t hear minds unless she hits the person with one of her stingers. At least not human ones. Pollen can always hear the other kwamis, and Queen Bee can hear them as well, if she comes in physical contact with their host while the kwami is speaking to the host.”

“Except me,” Wayzz added, coming in out of nowhere and making Nino jump. At least he didn’t scream like a little girl this time. “Pollen can only hear me when I want her to.”

Nino blinked at him. “Oh. So when… I mean if I become the were-turtle, I won’t have to worry about Queen Bee finding out who I am that way?” Wayzz nodded. “That’s cool.” He looked at Master Fu. “Was it just me, or did Queen Bee seem a little…”

Master Fu nodded again, slower this time, sighing a little as he did. “She’s been through a lot this week.”

“Sounds like they could really use some help,” Nino said hopefully. He didn’t mean to be impatient, but come on! Master Fu had told him he would get to be a superhero! That was so awesome! How long was he supposed to wait now that he knew it was going to be happening?

Master Fu looked at him and smiled slightly. “We need to do a little more training first. We want to make sure you can undergo the transformation without dying.”

Nino’s grin faded. “Oh. You know what? Waiting sounds good.” He smiled nervously at Master Fu. “I should probably be getting to school.”

Master Fu nodded in agreement and Nino headed out.

 

Nino was an idiot.

Like, a world class idiot.

He had locks on his window. Why hadn’t he remembered to lock them? If he had, he might not have ended up getting dragged out of his house by a shadow creature.

The creature dragged Nino up to his roof and leaped onto the next roof. Nino screamed like a banshee. The creature didn’t seem to care. It kept leaping from roof to roof, and they must have crossed at least ten buildings before the creature stopped and bit him.

Or tried to, at least. The second Nino saw those fangs coming at him, his training with Master Fu kicked in, and he kicked the creature right in the chest.

The creature didn’t budge, but Nino did, sliding across the roof. He scrambled backward so fast he almost fell off the edge of the roof. The shadow creature lunged at him again and he promptly dropped himself off the side of the building, balancing precariously on a ledge as the creature swiped at him.

“Oh my gosh this is terrifying!” Nino yelled. Then he managed, with immense difficulty, to move down enough to climb down the window he was perched on and climb in through it.

He raced through the building, the creature hot on his tail.

Nino sprinted out onto the street and wove his way through the city, pure panic driving him to run faster than he’d known he could. He was pretty sure that the shadow creature should have been able to catch him by now. Maybe it was enjoying the chase.

But Nino wasn’t, and he couldn’t keep this up forever. He was already starting to get tired.

Then he heard shouting coming from not too far away. Familiar shouting. The superheroes were close by, probably fighting a mob of shadow creatures.

Nino booked it in that direction. The shadow creature must have realized where he was heading, because suddenly it was moving much faster, like it was suddenly motivated to catch Nino.

Nino ran into a building. It sounded like the superheroes were just on a street on the other side of this building. All Nino had to do was get through it, and they’d be able to keep him safe.

He turned the corner, hoping against hope that there would be a door at the end of this hallway, but there wasn’t. There was only a staircase.

With the creature right behind him, Nino didn’t have much a choice except to go up.

He barely made it to the top of the stairs before the creature crashed into him with a flying tackle.

Nino yelled loudly and tried to fight against the creature, but it was too strong for him. He saw a window next to him and banged on it. He could see the superheroes fighting below him. If he could just get their attention.

The shadow creature tried to bite him. Nino slapped it across its face, purely as a reflex, but it just seemed to make the creature mad.

Instead of trying to bite him again, the creature raked its claws across Nino’s chest instead. Nino yelped in pain and surprise and looked away, not wanting to see how his chest looked, opting to look at the shadow creature instead.

The shadow creature raised one hand like it was going to swipe at him again. Nino turned his head away so he at least wouldn’t see it happen, looking out the window like that would somehow distract him from the pain he was in.

His eyes caught sight of Rena Rogue out the window. She was fighting the shadow creatures, her red, white tipped hair up in a crazy ponytail. Orange lines swirled across her skin in a gorgeous pattern as she landed in a crouch, avoiding a shadow creature’s swipe at her head.

Then she turned, and even though she was a floor below him, it was like she was only a foot away. Nino could see her violet eyes as clear as day, clever and scheming and beautiful, and another pair of eyes flashed in his mind.

Nino’s breath caught in his throat. Suddenly, his pain and his fear faded away, replaced by one thought, one image. The only one that mattered.

“Alya,” Nino breathed, putting one hand up on the window as his vision slipped away. He stared at Rena Rogue, at Alya, drinking in the image of her, glorious and beautiful as she fought, for as long as he could.

Everything went dark, and then suddenly, it wasn’t dark at all.

There was light everywhere, blinding Nino with a brilliant green. He felt a presence as well, one that he recognized instantly.

Wayzz.

He remembered everything Master Fu had told him. He remembered that if he gave into the light, he would die. And he remembered what Master Fu had said, that the only thing that would save him was his dreams for the future. He had to think about the future he wanted, and how much he wanted it.

That was easy. Nino wanted to be a dj. And he wanted to be there for his friends. He wanted to be there when they all graduated from school. He wanted to be there when Marinette became a famous designer and when Adrien got married and when Alya…

Nino’s eyes snapped open. He hadn’t even realized they were closed.

He gasped desperately for breath as his vision cleared. The shadow creature was staring at him, but as he watched it glared at him and moved like it was going to get hit him again.

‘Transform!’ Wayzz yelled, his voice coming from inside Nino’s head, which was a weird sensation. A strength flooded Nino that he had never felt before, and he couldn’t have stopped himself from transforming if he wanted to.

He didn’t have time to notice how he looked though. The creature was coming at him fast.

Nino moved before he knew he was doing it, kicking the creature aside and turning to look at the window at Wayzz’s direction. Honestly, Nino wasn’t even sure which one of them was controlling his body.

The heroes seemed to be struggling. There were a lot of shadow creatures down there after all.

The shadow creature came at him again. Nino didn’t even look at it as he punched sideways, knocking the shadow creature in the had so hard it immediately fell over. The sound made Nino jump, and he glanced over to stare at the creature, startled.

‘You have to help them, Nino,’ Wayzz said. ‘Focus on your desire to protect them, and then get down there to them.’

Nino nodded, determination flooding his being. He took a couple of steps backward, dimly noticing the green mist that surrounded his body.

Then he sprinted forward, launching himself through the window. “BONZAI!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

‘Solidify the mist!’ Wayzz yelled as everyone’s head lifted up to watch Nino fall.

Nino didn’t have a chance to ask Wayzz what he meant by that before the mist around him turned solid, forming a giant green turtle shell around him just in time for it to fall onto several shadow creatures. They shrieked as the shell smashed them to the ground. The shell must have been pretty heavy, because they dissolved into shadows immediately.

The shell vanished and Nino got to his feet. Everyone was staring at him still.

Nino smiled nervously at the other superheroes. Then his eyes flicked over to Rena Rogue, and suddenly his smile was at once more nervous and less.

A shadow creature recovered from its shock and lunged at Nino. Nino turned to kick it, and then suddenly his kick involved an unplanned spin that sent the creature flying, and then Nino was flipping away, dodging the attack of a shadow creature he hadn’t even realized was there.

“Whoa,” Queen Bee said, sounding surprised. “He’s good, for a newbie.”

“Wayzz,” Ladybug said grimly, like that one word was a full explanation in and of itself.

And actually, it kind of was.

Nino could hear Wayzz inside his head, directing his movements, telling him to use his powers, his words flashing through Nino’s mind so quickly Nino found himself reacting without hearing exactly what Wayzz was saying, knocking shadow creatures away from him with moves so impressive Nino couldn’t believe he was the one doing them.

He fought his way to the other heroes, to Rena Rogue specifically. She stared at him as he grinned at her, excited beyond words. He couldn’t believe she was here. He couldn’t believe she was a superhero! Well, actually, he could believe it. She was the perfect person to be a superhero. “Hey, babe,” he said, the words spilling out of him before he could stop them.

Rena Rogue gave him an irritated look. “Don’t call me that.”

Nino was too excited to react to that the way he normally would have. Instead, he just smiled widely at her. “Sorry, babe,” he said. “Can’t do that.”

Rena Rogue’s jaw dropped slightly. Her eyes widened, and she looked at him with less irritation and more surprise and confusion, her eyes flicking first to Ladybug and then to Queen Bee like she was looking for an explanation.

Nino’s eyes flicked over to Chat Noir. Something about him seemed familiar, much more familiar than Chat Noir should have been, but Nino couldn’t figure out why. He flashed Nino a wide smile. “Good to have you on the team,” he said, his voice casually cutting through the confusion and surprise the others were stuck on.

Then suddenly they were all fighting, weaving around each other like an intricate dance, like they could read each other’s mind, like they knew each other’s every move. Although for the most part, knowing Queen Bee’s moves just involved jumping out of her way.

And somehow, Nino seemed to know them too. Or at least, Wayzz did. Wayzz knew what to do.

And that mostly involved throwing shields up to make sure that the other heroes didn’t get hurt.

Nino loved being a superhero.

Eventually the shadows disappeared, and Nino grinned brightly at the other heroes, thrilled they’d succeeded.

Then something solid whacked him in the head. “Ow!” Nino said loudly, turning around to see Master Fu glaring at him.

“Nino,” Master Fu said, sounding irritated. “What is the one thing I asked you to do?”

Nino drooped under the weight of Master Fu’s gaze. “Not die until I was ready for Wayzz to transform me.”

“And what did you do?” Master Fu asked, putting his cane down and looking at Nino sternly.

Nino drooped a little more. “Died before I was ready for Wayzz to transform me.”

“Um… Master Fu?” Chat Noir asked. “He really saved us out here. It’s probably a good thing he transformed now, right?”

Master Fu turned to meet Chat’s eyes. “In order for Wayzz to transform him, he had to drop the shell holding Lila captive. She may not know Ladybug’s identity anymore, but I am sure she will still prove a dangerous enemy.” He looked away, his expression grave. “Another enemy on the loose and an ally Papillion will not want to fight. I am sure that the shadow creature attacks so far were simply distractions. Now, whatever the plan is, I am sure Papillion will start immediately, before the turtle has a chance to get stronger.” He glared at Nino. “Which is why you needed to be trained before your transformation.”

“Oh,” Nino said. He smiled at Master Fu in what he hoped was a winning way but was probably just nervous. “Oops?”


	22. Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this one up. I had some stuff I had to deal with.  
> But I'm back now and the next chapter should be up in a couple of days

The five heroes stood in an uncertain circle, glancing at each other with varying expressions as Master Fu worked on making tea. He had said that they should talk to each other, get to know each other, but so far, no one was saying anything.

The new guy looked way too excited to speak. He kept glancing from one of them to the next, his grin so wide Queen Bee couldn’t believe it wasn’t painful.

Ladybug had her arms folded across her chest. Queen Bee could literally see her trying not to have a hard time with another new hero, with another change to the group dynamic that would probably throw them off again, at least a little.

Queen Bee couldn’t blame her. Ladybug was responsible for coming up with any plans they needed to win their tougher fights, and every time someone new joined their group, she had a new rogue element to work with. It took a while for the team to adjust and work out the kinks and figure out how Ladybug communicated her plans, and that had to make her job harder.

Plus, Ladybug was pretty competitive, and a new were whose job was to protect the other weres from each other and themselves, and who was therefore immune to pretty much everything they could do? A were who didn’t seem to need training, who seemed to already know how to do everything? Queen Bee could see how that might grate on her competitive nerves.

Not that it bothered Queen Bee. So what if he could already condense his powers into a weapon less than an hour after getting his powers when Queen Bee still didn’t couldn’t do it? Queen Bee was happy for him. It didn’t bother her at all.

Chat stood between Ladybug and Turtle Boy, one arm on Ladybug’s shoulder, looking almost as excited about Turtle Boy being part of the group as Turtle Boy was.

Of course he was. He had a new friend to hang out with. That would never fail to thrill him.

Rena Rogue stood on Ladybug’s other side, clearly torn between confusion and irritation, all of it directed straight at the new hero. Queen Bee didn’t know why or how Turtle Boy was throwing her off so much, but something about the new hero seemed to be both throwing her for a loop and rubbing her the wrong way.

Queen Bee glanced from her back to Turtle Boy, only to find him beaming at her with shiny green eyes. He had stripes similar to the rest of theirs, but his were glossy green and they covered a lot more of his skin than anyone else’s did. Maybe so his identity would be extra safe? That seemed like it’d be a turtle thing. Or maybe the stripes were harder than his regular skin, and he had more of them so he didn’t have to use his immunity power as much?

Queen Bee leaned in closer to Turtle Boy, squinting at him, as she tried to figure it out. Turtle Boy’s eyes widened in surprise, his grin faltering as he sent her a bewildered look.

Queen Bee reached out one finger and poked him in the face a couple times, trying to gauge the difference between the green stripes and his regular skin.

“What are you doing to him?” Ladybug asked, eying Queen Bee curiously.

Queen Bee glanced at her. “I was checking to see if his stripes are harder than the rest of his skin. It seems like they are, which is weird because mine definitely aren’t.” She poked one of Turtle Boy’s stripes. “Can you feel it when I touch the stripes?”

He frowned. “Not… not really. Man, that’s weird.”

“Seriously?” Chat asked. He stepped away from Ladybug to tap on a stripe on Turtle Boy’s face with one of his claws. “You really can’t feel that?”

“Uh… no?” Turtle Boy said uncertainly, glancing to Master Fu. Queen Bee couldn’t tell if he was asking for help or if he had a question, but he definitely seemed to be looking for some kind of a reaction.

Master Fu glanced up at him and smiled, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s the same with mine,” Ladybug said. “My stripes are like that too. I guess it’s kind of like a ladybug’s exoskeleton. Yours must be like a turtle’s shell. A cat’s or fox’s fur don’t provide the same kind of protection. And if Queen Bee’s stripes are like the hairs on a bee, then it makes sense that the stripes wouldn’t be hard. The hairs help the bee catch and transfer pollen as opposed to providing a protective covering.”

Queen Bee stared at her for a long moment. “How do you know all that?”

Ladybug frowned. “I always look up stuff about the animal they become when a new were shows up. We take after them enough, it just seemed like a good idea.”

“Hey! I do that too!” Rena Rogue said happily. “I was looking up stuff about ladybugs while I was still just a civilian, actually.”

Ladybug’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s… cool. That you did that.”

“What about cats? Weren’t you looking up stuff about them too?” Chat Noir asked.

Queen Bee glanced at Turtle Boy. He was smiling at Rena Rogue, looking like he knew something the rest of them didn’t.

“Well, I…” Rena Rogue started to stay.

Queen Bee stomped her foot. “Don’t you start doing that too now!” she snapped at him, earning a surprised look from all the other weres. “I don’t care if you are the new were-turtle, it’s annoying enough when Master Fu does that and I don’t need it from you!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Turtle Boy said, sounding almost comedically baffled.

Queen Bee squinted at him. He looked at her with wide eyes, clearly meaning what he was saying. That at least was a difference between him and Master Fu. Master Fu would never have been able to sound as clueless as Turtle boy did.

And she really couldn’t keep calling him Turtle Boy.

“You need a superhero name,” Queen Bee said. She looked over at Rena Rogue, remembering the dozens of names Red had come up with before she’d settled on Rena Rogue. “Got any ideas?”

Rena Rogue titled her head. “For a turtle hero? Off the top of my head? Not really. I mean, unless he wants to be called Shell Shock or Diamondback or Snapper or Green Turtle.” She paused for a moment. “There have got to be more than that.”

Queen Bee grinned at her. “See, and I was just thinking we could call him Rookie. Or Newbie. Or maybe Turtle Guy.”

“New-bee? Doesn’t seem like a very turtle name if you ask me,” Chat said.

Queen Bee pouted at him. “Really, Chat?”

Ladybug frowned. “If his whole thing is generating a shell, shouldn’t we call him something related to that. Like…” Her voice trailed off. “Um…”

“Carapace,” Master Fu said, startling all of them. He glanced up when they all turned to stare at him. “Just a suggestion. It’s the name of the protective top shell on a turtle.”

Turtle Boy looked at him and smiled. “Carapace. I like it. Let’s go with that.”

Queen Bee looked at him and tilted her head. “Can I call you Cara for short?”

Carapace frowned at her. “No.” Then he tilted his head. “Are you okay? You seem kind of… off today.”

Queen Bee pretended she hadn’t heard him. She didn’t want to lie to her friends, and she didn’t think she’d be able to like effectively anyway. Not if she couldn’t even fool the new guy. “Well, then, I guess you got to be Green.” Carapace opened his mouth like he had something to say to that, but Queen Bee cut him off before he could. “But I suppose Carapace is a reasonably good name for you. You are pretty handy with that shell already. For a newbie.”

“Beat both of us to creating a weapon,” Rena Rogue muttered. She didn’t sound thrilled about that.

Carapace squinted at her for a moment. “You can’t make a weapon yet?” His eyes flicked to Queen Bee. “Either of you?”

Queen Bee shrugged. “Haven’t tried that hard, to be honest with you.” Ladybug opened her mouth. Queen Bee was pretty sure she was about to get a lecture, and she didn’t want to hear it right now. “But enough about us. We were supposed to be getting to know you. Why don’t you tell us about yourself? You’re immune to almost everything, we know that. Anything else you want to share?”

Carapace’s eyes flicked towards Rena Rogue and then toward Ladybug before he looked back at Queen Bee. “No…,” he said slowly. “Can’t think of anything you guys should know.”

Queen Bee frowned at him. “So if you hit someone with the green mist, do they become immune to everything too?”

Carapace looked at Master Fu. Master Fu grinned at him. Carapace’s eyes unfocused and he blinked until they refocused. “Wayzz says yes. Anyone I touch with the mist shares my immunity to stuff. Probably shouldn’t use it on the shadow creatures.”

Ladybug nodded. “Like my healing. That’s fine. You do plenty of damage with that shield of yours.”

“So what happens if you bite someone?” Queen Bee asked.

Carapace sent her a startled look. “What?”

Queen Bee waved a hand at Ladybug. “If she bites someone she can heal them of wounds that even her little red bubbles can’t fix.” She gestured to Chat Noir. “If he bites someone, he can do things like sever their connection to their kwamis.” She waved her hand towards Rena Rogue. “And she…” She paused. “I actually don’t know what your bite does.”

Rena Rogue glanced at her, frowning. “I bite you, and I know every truth there is to know about you. Far more than I can learn just from my smoke, which seems to be focused on one particular truth.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Queen Bee. “What about you?”

“What?” Queen Bee asked.

“What does your bite do?” Rena Rogue asked. “You’ve never bitten anyone, either, right? Not even when you erased Lila’s memory of Ladybug’s identity?”

Queen Bee blinked. ‘What does our bite do?’ she asked Pollen.

Pollen sighed. ‘It forms a mental link between you and the person you bit.’

‘What does that mean?’ Queen Bee asked.

‘Hopefully, you’ll never have to find out. Many of my chosen have bitten people for one reason or another. For most of them, it didn’t end all that well,” Pollen said.

“Queen Bee?” Chat Noir said. “You still in there?”

Queen Bee snapped herself out of her mental conversation and looked at him. “Yeah, I’m here. I was asking Pollen what my bite would do.”

“What does it do?” Rena Rogue asked.

“Some kind of mental link thing,” Queen Bee said loftily, hoping that no one would ask her what she meant by that.

“What does that mean?” Carapace asked.

Queen Bee glared at him. “I don’t know. Pollen’s not really the best at communicating things, which is hilarious because communication is supposed to be our thing.” The other heroes exchanged glances. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to be biting anyone any time soon. What does your bite do, Green?”

Carapace tilted his head like he was listening, which he probably was. Wayzz was probably actually answering his questions, unlike Pollen. “Apparently, it slows down the aging process for a while.” He frowned. “My bite makes people age slower? Do I age slower then?” His eyes widened. “I do? How slow?” There was another second of silence. “What? No. That’s way too slow! I don’t want to live that long!”

“You know you can answer him silently, right? You don’t have to talk out loud for him to hear you,” Queen Bee said. “And also, don’t complain about not aging. It’s not like living a long time is a bad thing.”

Chat Noir sent her a sharp look. “Bee…”

Carapace talked over whatever Chat Noir was trying to say. “No one else is going to live that long! I don’t want to live that long! I don’t want to be by myself!”

Queen Bee shrugged. “Yeah, well, the way things are going, I doubt any of us are going to get a chance to worry about getting old.”

Everyone stared at her, including Master Fu. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Carapace asked.

Queen Bee met his eyes. “I’m fine. Have nightmares about people dying every night. They’re all memories, but they’re not all mine, which really sucks, because things turned out much worse for some of them than it did for me. So I’m dandy. Because why wouldn’t I be?”

She hoped her voice didn’t really sound to them the way that it sounded to her.

Carapace’s eyes widened. He was quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice soft. “I guess all of our powers come with a catch, right?”

Rena Rogue raised her hand. “I can tell whenever people are lying. Trust me, sometimes, you don’t want to know.”

Chat Noir nodded. “You wouldn’t believe how many things I touch break. I open a door, and all the sudden the door handle isn’t attached to the door anymore. I can’t even look at eggs or they break immediately. Even when I’m untransformed.”

Ladybug sent them all baffled looks. “I just heal fast. I don’t think my powers come with a downside.”

“They will,” Master Fu said, sounding perfectly cheerful. “As all of you get more powerful, the more you will find ‘catches’ in your powers.”

Queen Bee flashed him a wide smile. Carapace edged away from her. “Of course. What fun would it be if there weren’t going to be more catches?”

Master Fu met her eyes. “And of course, you will probably need them. I am sure now that Carapace is on the scene, Papillion and Le Peon will probably move fast. Enact whatever plan they have before there are more of you trained and able to use your powers to fight.”

“Oh good,” Queen Bee said. “We needed some more excitement.”

 

Three weeks. Three weeks since the last shadow creature attack.

Three weeks of Paris being perfectly safe. Three weeks of them patrolling the whole city and finding nothing. No shadow creatures attacking. No sign of Papillion or Le Peon. No possessed people coming out of nowhere during the day.

Nothing.

Nothing new and productive for Queen Bee to focus on. Nothing for Queen Bee to do but remember, her own memories and other people’s, all of them terrible.

Nothing for Queen Bee to do but worry about what Papillion was planning. About how likely it was that she was going to get hurt or killed by whatever he was planning. About how many other people he was going to hurt, friends and strangers.

It was driving her crazy.

Every day Queen Bee wanted honey a little bit less and something else a little more, and even though she knew what it was now, she refused to put a name to it. Refused to admit it, even to herself, even in her own mind. Pretended it didn’t worry her, when it definitely did. Pretended the times when the only thing that stopped her was how loudly Pollen was yelling in her mind, snapping her out of it in time to get Chloe to go eat honey instead, didn’t happen.

Pretended she couldn’t see the worry in Adrien’s and Nathanael’s and Sabrina’s eyes get a little bit worse each day. Pretended she didn’t see the flicker of surprise in her classmates’ eyes when an opportunity to be mean came up and she didn’t take it.

The weeks dragged on, and Chloe just kept pretending she was okay and her nerves frayed, just a little more each day.

She wasn’t the only one. Ladybug got tenser the longer the city went without any attack. Rena Rogue had taken over dealing the press for the most part. Her pleas for the civilians to remain vigilant got more desperate as time went on and the civilians got more relaxed. Even Chat’s jokes had started to sound just a little forced.

So they did what they could. They trained. They got better.

And still Papillion made no move.

Chloe tapped her fingers against her arm as she waited for the teacher to show up. She could feel a pair of eyes on her, but she refused to turn and look at him.

She hadn’t really talked to Nathanael in three weeks. And Nathanael was too shy to talk to her- even after he’d said they were friends.

Either that, or the look Chloe gave him every time he looked at her was scaring him off.

‘I’m pretty sure it that’s one,’ Pollen said. ‘Chloe, you’ve got to deal with this stuff. You can’t keep pretending like it doesn’t bother you. You’re falling apart.’

‘No, I’m not.’

‘Sure,’ Pollen said. ‘Just go into denial. That’ll fix it.’

Chloe risked a glance behind her, thinking that maybe, she was imagining the eyes drilling holes into her back.

She wasn’t imagining it.

Nathanael’s eyes met hers, wide and worried and so beautiful it made Chloe feel like she couldn’t breathe.

Chloe looked away from him, her eyes meeting Adrien’s automatically. He frowned at whatever he saw on her face and looked backwards to where she had been looking, his eyes meeting Nathanael’s.

Nathanael’s gaze switched to him, and a strange look crossed his face. Adrien nodded, his expression full of understanding, and Nathanael visibly relaxed.

When had they gotten close enough to communicate like that?

‘Probably bonded over worrying about you,’ Pollen muttered. The tone of her voice made Chloe think she wasn’t expecting a response, which was good, because she wasn’t getting one.

She was pretty sure that look they gave each other meant that they weren’t going to give her her space today. At least, Adrien wasn’t. Nathanael was probably just going to worry about her from a distance, not talk to her.

‘If you want to talk to him, Chloe, just go talk to him. Don’t wait for him to come to you,’ Pollen said. 

Chloe ignored her. Pollen didn’t seem surprised, and she didn’t keep trying to talk Chloe into doing something she wasn’t going to do.

As soon as class was over, Chloe pushed herself to her feet and booked it out of the classroom, away from Adrien before he could talk to her about any of the many, many things that she didn’t want to talk about.

She had barely made it down the stairs before Adrien hit the ground in front of her.

“What the heck dude?” Nino yelled from the second floor.

Chloe stared at Adrien with wide eyes. “Did you… did you just jump from the second floor?”

Adrien tried to glare at her, but it came off more as a cute little pout. That happened, not every time Adrien tried to glare, but a lot of the times he did. Then he leaned forward and grabbed her hand. “Come on, Chloe,” he said, pulling her towards the stairs on the other side of the building.

He dragged her into an empty classroom before he finally let go of her hand.

“What are you doing?” Chloe demanded angrily, as if she didn’t know.

Adrien stepped back and folded his arms across his chest and pouted at her again. “You’re not doing okay and you’re not talking to anyone about it.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe I’m just talking to someone who’s not you,” Chloe snapped back.

“Well, you’re not talking to me,” a voice said. Chloe turned her head and saw Sabrina standing to the side, shrinking in on herself like she was worried she was about to get yelled at as she looked at Chloe with desperate pleading eyes. Chloe knew Sabrina well enough to know that underneath that shrinking violet act, there was steel and fire that came out in the most unexpected times, but none of it was there right now.

“And you’re not talking to me,” another voice said, a voice that sent a jolt up her spine.

Chloe didn’t turn around. She could tell by the sound that he was by the door. He’d probably been behind it when they came in, and now he was probably standing in front of it. She could push past him of course, but she wouldn’t, and he knew it.

“So, what? This is an intervention?” Chloe asked. “Can’t stand me not talking all the time? Miss the sound of my beautiful voice?”

Adrien sighed. “Chloe. You’ve got to talk about at least some of the things that are bothering you. With someone. And if you’re not talking to any of us…”

“Nothing to talk about,” Chloe said, raising her eyebrows at him. He could hardly get more specific in front of Nathanael and Sabrina.

“Chloe, please. We just want to help,” Adrien said.

Chloe looked away from him.

“You do realize you’re talking to Chloe, right?” Nathanael asked. “Saying please isn’t going to help. Actually, it’ll probably just make her less likely to talk to us.”

Chloe glanced over her shoulder and glared in Nathanael’s general direction without actually meeting his eyes. “Rude, much?”

Nathanael gave her an unimpressed look. “You’ve been avoiding me for three weeks and you’re calling me rude?”

He sounded annoyed, but underneath that was a hurt Chloe couldn’t help but hear. It did things to her heart she’d never admit out loud. When had he started to matter so much to her? She couldn’t remember, but she didn’t like it. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I just didn’t feel like talking to you. Is that really so weird?”

“You normally won’t leave me alone. You won’t leave anyone in the entire class alone, so yes, it is that weird,” Nathanael said. “You’re hurting and you’re not dealing with it and it just keeps getting worse. This isn’t healthy. None of your coping strategies are healthy. You’ve got to start doing something different.”

Chloe had a retort on the tip of her tongue before a wave of dizziness hit her, bringing with it a familiar feeling of wanting something, something that definitely wasn’t honey.

She froze, struggling to take a breath as she tried to push the feeling away. “I need to leave,” she whispered. “I need to get out of here.”

“Chloe?” Adrien sounded like he was three seconds away from panicking, which was probably a pretty good indication of how Chloe looked right now. “Are you okay?”

Chloe could smell what she wanted, from him, from Sabrina, from Nathanael. “I need to leave,” she said again, turning around and stumbling toward the door.

Which was a mistake, because Nathanael was right there, and as soon as Chloe got close to him, the part of her brain that kept her going for honey instead of for something else turned off, and next thing she knew, she had pinned Nathanael up against the door, her fangs uncomfortably close to his neck.

Nathanael’s eyes were wide with horror and recognition. He definitely knew what she wanted.

“Chloe? What are you doing?” Adrien asked, and for a moment, Chloe remembered that she was the mayor’s daughter and that she definitely didn’t want to do what she was about to do.

“Yeah, what are you doing?” Nathanael asked. “Don’t bite me, I probably taste like a tomato. Adrien’s sweet. You should bite him instead.”

“Bite me? Why would she…?” Adrien’s voice cut off in mid-sentence, most likely because he had just figured out what the answer to his question was. “Chloe, don’t. Don’t bite Nathanael.” There was a warning in his voice that it took Chloe a minute to understand. She might be a vampire, but she was also a were. She couldn’t bite Nathanael. “You can do this, you can beat it.”

He’s right, Chloe, Chloe told herself, trying to snap herself out of it, but it was so hard to focus on anything but the way Nathanael smelled, the fact that his veins were full of…

‘Chloe!’ Pollen said in Chloe’s head, and the desperation in her voice made Chloe wonder how long she had already been yelling while Chloe just tuned her out. ‘Fight it! Get out of here! Get yourself some honey. Adrien’s right! You can do this!’

She heard Adrien take a step towards her and a growl built up low in her throat. He was not going to pull her away from Nathanael. Nathanael was hers.

Pollen’s screams in her head cut off abruptly.

“Stop,” Nathanael said, and it took a second for Chloe to realize that he wasn’t talking to her. “Don’t move. You’re upsetting her, and I don’t think that’s a good thing right now.”

His voice was strangely calm, and for some reason that made Chloe look up at him. She looked at him and he met her gaze, his teal eyes full of worry- for her, not for whatever she was about to do.

And for just a moment, Chloe the vampire gave way to Chloe the girl with a crush on the most beautiful boy she’d ever seen, and suddenly there was something Chloe wanted to do so much more than she wanted to bite him.

And since she was pretty sure that she was going to give into one of those desires, Chloe decided to give into this one.

Nathanael went rigid as her lips pressed into his. Sabrina made a squeaking sound and she could practically hear Adrien’s jaw drop and Chloe didn’t care about any of it.

She pulled back after a moment. Nathanael was staring at her in shock.

“Sorry,” she said, even though she was pretty sure he was the one who should be apologizing. He hadn’t even closed his eyes, which frankly just seemed polite. “It was either that or bite you, and biting you seemed like it would be worse.”

Nathanael didn’t react to that at all.

Chloe huffed. “But maybe you would have preferred I bite you. I can still do it, if you want me to,” she said, waiting for Nathanael to stammer out a confession that a kiss was better.

He didn’t. She let go of him in pure indignation, and Nathanael dropped like a rock to the floor. He seemed to be going in to shock, which Chloe was pretty sure was supposed to happen when people got stabbed and not when people got kissed.

“Chloe,” Adrien said, his voice sounding very strange.

Suddenly, all of Chloe’s former apathy about Adrien and Sabrina being in the room vanished.

“You know what?” she said, her voice sounding much too loud in her own ears. “I’m going to go find some honey before I actually bite somebody. Move Nathanael!” Nathanael didn’t move, so Chloe pushed him over with her foot so she could open the door.

Nathanael snapped out of his stupor and stared at Chloe with wide, terrified eyes like he was still scared she was going to hurt him. “Chloe,” he said his voice barely louder than a whisper. “Wait, don’t go yet, I…”

Chloe didn’t wait to hear what he was going to say. She sprinted down the hall.

“Chloe!” Nathanael’s voice yelled after her.

Oh, sure. Now he wanted to talk. No way was Chloe stopping now.

“CHLOE BOURGOISE, YOU GET BACK HERE AND TALK TO ME!” Nathanael yelled at the top of his very loud lungs.

Chloe didn’t stop. She ran down the stairs and headed for the front door.

“CHLOE!” Nathanael yelled again.

Chloe ran past Kim, who looked from her to Nathanael in complete shock. “What the…?”

Alya cupped her hands to her mouth as Chloe sprinted past her. “Run faster Nathanael, she’s booking it!”

“What is going on here?” Nino asked, sounding thoroughly confused, and something about that pulled at the threads of Chloe’s memory.

“I think Chloe and Nathanael switched personalities. Only thing that makes sense,” Alix said, popping a bubble.

Chloe burst out the front door, fully intending to run all the way home.

Instead, she stopped dead in her tracks.


	23. Chloe

For a long moment, Chloe just stood there, staring in shock.

Then she realized that Nathanael was going to be coming after her, was going to be coming outside, and she knew she couldn’t let that happen.

So she turned around, pulling the door open in time to see Nathanael getting close to it. She lunged inside and tackled him, sending them both toppling to the ground.

Nathanael yelped in surprise as she slammed into them. Then they hit the floor and he turned his head to stare at her incredulously. “What? What was that? What are you...? Could you possibly be any more confusing?”

Chloe blinked, her thoughts screeching to a halt. Words slipped out of her mouth before she knew she was speaking. “Is that a challenge?”

“What? No!” Nathanael looked alarmed by her words, for some reason.

Chloe’s brain restarted and she turned panicked eyes on Alya. “You need to post on the Ladyblog.”

“What?” Alya looked startled. “Why?”

Chloe pointed at the door. “Because Lila Rossi is heading down the street with a small army of possessed people, and it looks like they’re heading toward the school. I’m thinking we’re going to need Ladybug,” she said, forcing herself not to look at Marinette, standing right beside Alya.

“What?” Alya asked, looking a lot more startled now. “Are you kidding?”

“I wish,” Chloe said. “But unfortunately, no, I’m not kidding. Now post on the freaking Ladyblog so Ladybug and the others know to show up.” Or at least so Carapace and Rena Rogue do, she added silently.

Her classmates started to react, a mixture of fear and shock and disbelief, but Marinette’s voice cut through the noise before anyone had a chance to panic. “We need to bar the doors. Even possessed people have their limits. We need to slow them down, buy time for the heroes to get here.”

The class started to move, motivated by Marinette’s words.

“Hey, Adrien,” Kim called out. “Come help me and Max move this stuff in front of the door.”

Adrien froze like a deer caught in headlights. “Uh…” he started to say.

Chloe didn’t wait for him to make any excuses. “He can’t. Adrien needs to get lost.”

Everyone stared at her. “What?” Kim asked.

Chloe glared at him. He flinched at her glare. “Because the last time Lila came to our school, she went after him. There’s a decent chance she’s after him again, so he needs to get lost.”

Kim frowned. “But the last time the possessed people were here, they went after you. Maybe they’re after you again.”

Chloe thought about for a second. Then she took off her shoes and thrust them at Nathanael. “Here, hold these.”

“What?” Nathanael said, holding her shoes in his hands and looking at her like she was insane.

“Hold. Them,” Chloe said again slower. “I’m going to want them back later.”

She pushed herself to her feet. Nathanael looked at her with wide eyes. “What do you mean, you’ll want them back later? Where are you going?”

Chloe turned back towards the door. “Like Marinette said. We need to buy time. A distraction sounds like a good idea right about now.”

“What? No, Chloe, you can’t. You can’t go out there by yourself,” Nathanael protested, throwing himself forward to catch her hand without getting up off the ground.

She glanced at him. “This isn’t a good time for you to man up, Nath. You stay here.”

She pulled away from him. “But they’ll hurt you,” he said, his voice full of enough worry to make Chloe’s heart ache.

“They’ll have to catch me first,” she said, pushing the door open and slipping outside before anyone could put anything in front of it.

She ran down the front steps and down the sidewalk, stopping at the intersection in front of the school and watched as Lila Rossi and her small army approached.

‘Be careful, Chloe,’ Pollen said. ‘You may be faster than they are, but it would be a lot better if they didn’t find that out right now.’

‘Given the option of dying or running a little too fast to seem normal, I’m gonna go with running,’ Chloe said.

Lila Rossi was getting close enough to hear her, so Chloe’s next words were out loud.

“If you’re looking for Adrien, he’s not here.”

Lila paused for a minute across the street and held up her hand. The other possessed humans paused as well. “Then tell me where he is.”

Probably nowhere by now, Chloe thought to herself. He was already running away when I left. I’m sure he’s already transformed. But out loud she said something very different. “Why do you want him anyway? He’s not going to date you after everything you’ve done.”

Lila sneered at him. “Don’t be stupid. You think Papillion would send this many people with me just to grab a boy I have a crush on? I’m not here for that, but by the end of today the entire city will be engulfed in a war. The only safe place will be by Papillion’s side, so if you care about Adrien, you should tell me where he is.”

Chloe stiffened at the message of a war. Then she forced herself to relax and laugh. “And I should believe you? I should believe that Papillion sent you to start his war? He can’t possibly be that stupid. You’re not a soldier. You’re not a messenger. You’re a petty little girl who had to tell a bunch of lies about herself just to feel worthy of being? Because you’re so scared that without those lies, everyone will see you for what you are: nothing.” Chloe’s insides squirmed at her own words, but she held Lila’s gaze with a cruel smirk. “This school already has a mean girl, and I do better than you ever could, and I do without having to hide who I am. So why don’t you just go away, and leave these people, who are actually victims, unlike you, to do Papillion’s bidding until Ladybug shows up and saves them?” Chloe paused for a second. “Because she is going to save them.”

Lila huffed. “Ladybug can’t save this many.”

“Ladybug can pretty much do anything,” Chloe said. “She saved you, didn’t she? And she did it because that’s who she is, not because you deserved it. And she’ll save them too.”

‘You did deserve to be saved, Chloe,’ Pollen said.

‘Shut up,’ Chloe snapped. ‘Trying to focus.’

Lila rolled her eyes and raised a hand, motioning to the possessed person on her left. “You grab her. The rest of you, start attacking the school.”

The possessed humans moved forward. They had all taken one step when a sound rang out, loud and high and clear, and brought them all to a stop. It took a moment for Chloe to recognize the sound.

It was a flute.

Chloe turned and saw Rena Rogue standing on the school building, a long white flute raised to her lips. Her weapon, Chloe realized. She had learned to make her weapon, and judging from the tension in her shoulders and the overly excited smile on Carapace’s face as he stood next to her, Chloe would have been willing to bet that he had just taught her to do that.

Chloe couldn’t help but grin, though she did manage to keep herself from laughing.

The possessed humans started turning on each other, most of them attacking each other but a few of them simply trying to run away. Chloe wondered what Rena Rogue was making them see.

Lila shook her head, her eyebrows drawing together like she was confused. She blinked and shook her head harder and her expression started to clear, her eyes going up to meet Rena Rogue’s.

“That won’t work on me,” she said loudly. A possessed human bumped into her and she stumbled forward, stepping into the street and taking a few steps before she regained her balance.

“Yeah, Rena Rogue said that it wouldn’t,” Carapace said as Rena Rogue continued to play. “But honestly, you’re not much of a threat by yourself.”

Lila smiled cruelly. “Don’t be stupid. You showing up so soon was a surprise, but Rena Rogue? We knew she’d be here first. She’s always here first. Clearly, she either lives or works close to here or even more likely, she goes to this school.”

Chloe glanced automatically up at Rena Rogue. She didn’t stop playing, but her shoulders did stiffen just a little, just enough for Chloe to wonder if it was true.

Beside her, Carapace stiffened too, his eyes widening in transparent horror. No surprise, no question, just horror. Like all he already knew Lila was right and he was simply terrified that she would figure it out for sure.

Chloe’s mind flashed back to asking him if he had anything else to share, the way he’d hesitated, his eyes flicking to Rena Rogue, before he’d answered no, and suddenly it all made sense.

Carapace knew who Rena Rogue was, and it was someone who went to the school.

Chloe looked back at Lila. “Yeah, I’m sure Rena Rogue is a college student,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Because that makes so much sense. And even if you knew she’d turn her up, what were you thinking was going to happen? You don’t have your army right now. So, it’s like there’s anything you can do.”

“I don’t need help to take her down. I can do it myself,” Lila said. “And the turtle, too.”

Chloe snorted. “Are you kidding? Because you’re possessed? Rena Rogue could take out a dozen possessed humans. She can take you out too, and she has help. You stand no chance.”

Lila turned to look at Chloe with cold eyes. “Oh, but I’m something so much better than possessed.”

Her body started to shimmer, radiating blue light that enveloped her and then dissipated, leaving behind an almost familiar form.

Because while Lila looked very similar to the peacock Chloe remembered, she was very clearly not the peacock Chloe remembered. Not tall enough, not beautiful enough, her expression not malicious enough or cold enough, and her hair was very, very wrong.

But none of those differences stopped Chloe’s blood from running cold, stopped the memories of fans flying everywhere, slashing through her skin, of feathers surrounding herself and her vision going dark as fell from the sky.

Lila smirked at Chloe. “What? Weren’t expecting that?”

Chloe blinked. “No, I wasn’t. I honestly thought the peacock would be someone prettier.”

Chloe had insulted a lot of people’s looks over the years, but no one had reacted quite the way that Lila reacted.

Lila let out a yell of primal rage and waved one hand in a wild arc, creating a blue fan and sending it flying at Chloe’s head.

Chloe ducked, hearing someone yelp as she did. It might have been her. She really couldn’t be sure.

She waited for the fan to come curving back around and flying at her the way it had when the other peacock had attacked her, but it never did. Instead it flew into a street light and turned into a cloud of feathers, which floated down and shimmered out of existence long before they reached the ground.

“Wow,” Chloe said, looking back at Lila’s irritated yet smug face. “You really suck. I mean, you can’t even hit me. That is beyond pathetic.”

Lila made a growling sound and surged forward, disappearing in a flash of feathers.

So she could teleport. Chloe had been waiting for that since the other peacock had teleported her weeks ago. She whirled instantly, just in time to see Lila appear behind her. She ducked as Lila sent a fan whirling through where her head been and lashed out, kicking Lila hard in the stomach with a furious yell.

Lila let out a surprised huff as Chloe’s kick connected hard enough to send her stumbling backwards several steps.

A flash of red appeared on the rooftops behind Lila. Chloe suppressed a smile and raised her eyebrows at Lila. “Again, pathetic. How are you going to beat Ladybug if you can’t even hit me?”

“Ladybug’s not here yet,” Lila snarled. “She’s always late getting to the school, so she won’t get here in time to save you.”

Chloe tilted her head. “Actually…”

She didn’t have time to finish her sentence before Lila yelped as red strings wrapped around her legs, pulling her feet out from under her and dragging her quickly back towards Ladybug.

“Don’t you dare touch Chloe,” Ladybug snarled as she dragged Lila backwards, the ferocity in her voice second only to the ferocity that was in her voice when someone tried to hurt Chat Noir.

Chloe couldn’t help but grin. It was weird, sure, hearing that much protectiveness from Marinette, but it was also kind of nice. Nice to know that even someone she’d never gotten along with could come to care so much about her.

But then again, that was who Marinette was. Ladybug.

Lila threw a fan. It sliced through the chains and she somersaulted backwards onto her feet, creating two more fans in her hands.

Ladybug shot into the sky, clearly intending to dodge, but Lila didn’t throw the fans at her.

One of the fans went spiraling toward the school doors. Chloe panicked briefly, not sure if the fans could slice through doors or walls if Lila wanted them to or if they only sliced through people, but she didn’t have to find out. Carapace dropped onto the ground and through a shield up to stop the fan even as he fell back on his butt.

The other fan arced through the air, heading towards Chloe.

She could dodge it, sure, but there were a bunch of possessed humans. If it didn’t hit her, it would probably hit one of them. She’d seen what it did to a were. She hated to think what it would do to one of them. Even in normal, non-were form, her skin was probably thicker than theirs.

The fan swerved towards Chloe’s face and she threw her arms up in front of face, turning her head away from the fan so she wouldn’t have to see it slice into her.

Then a black blur came flying out of nowhere. Chat landed in front of her with significantly less grace than he had earlier as Adrien, twirling a staff in a circle. The fan ricocheted off of it, flying back towards Lila. She let out a terrified yelp and disappeared in another cloud of feathers, reappearing back by the possessed humans.

“You’re late,” Chloe hissed at Chat under her breath, quietly enough that no one else would hear them.

“Sabrina wanted to help me hide,” he muttered under his breath. Then he spoke again, loud enough that everyone could hear him. “Miss, you should get out of here. This isn’t a safe place to be.”

Chloe suppressed a snort at the way he dropped his voice like he was trying to sound older, instead nodding obediently and running away, past Carapace. She passed Ladybug and the other girl glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes, asking a silent question. Are you coming back?

Chloe nodded and turned the corner, running around the other side of the school.

She kicked up the speed as soon as she was out of sight, transforming as she ran.

‘How is Lila a were-peacock now? We met the were-peacock. That wasn’t her,’ Chloe said to Pollen as she went.

Pollen didn’t answer her until the transformation was complete. ‘No, it wasn’t. The peacock, Duusu, I don’t think he would do something like this if he had another choice. Nooroo definitely wouldn’t. They must have found a way to force kwami’s to bond to a human they wouldn’t normally bond to. They must have used that to force Duusu to switch to Lila from whoever his other host was. I’m sure they’re just doing it temporarily. People don’t throw away powers like Duusu’s. I wonder why, though. Why did they need Lila to have the peacock’s powers?’

‘I’m sure it’s nothing good,’ Queen Bee answered as she shot into the sky, flying up over the school and heading back towards the battle.

She heard Lila’s voice before she saw any of them.

“…doesn’t even matter,” Lila was saying. “Rena Rogue can’t hold them forever, and you can’t cure this many of them at once. It will take her far longer than the fox is going to last, and even with the turtle helping the cat, they won’t be able to fight the remainder all at once.”

Queen Bee glanced at Rena Rogue as she flew by her. Rena’s hands were starting to shake on her flute. Lila was right. Rena couldn’t keep it up much longer at all.

Chat’s laughter cut her off before she could keep talking. “You’re forgetting about one of us, Lila. You really shouldn’t do that. Queen Bee does not like to be forgotten.”

“You don’t even know if she’s coming,” Lila sneered.

“Oh, she’ll come,” Chat said cheerfully.

He lunged towards Lila, but Lila disappeared again. Whatever she was after, fighting them clearly wasn’t it.

Ladybug didn’t seem interested in fighting her either, focused on working on curing the possessed humans. She could only cure small groups at a time. Each time she healed someone, their expressions cleared, obviously freed from Rena Rogue’s illusions.

Queen Bee waited for Lila to reappear, and then she dropped out of the sky, falling straight toward Lila as Lila opened her mouth to say something in response to Chat.

Lila saw Queen Bee falling toward her at the last second and stepped quickly backwards. Queen Bee didn’t even try to stick the landing after how hard she’d hit the ground, instead rolling toward Lila, moving back onto her feet to kick out against her.

Lila vanished again, reappearing on the opposite side of the group of possessed humans, so far away Queen Bee could barely even see her.

‘Seriously, what is she trying to accomplish?’ Queen Bee asked.

‘She’s probably waiting for Rena Rogue to run out of steam so she’ll have her army back,’ Pollen said.

‘To do what? Attack the school? They don’t get anything out of that. And if they wanted to destroy us, why not wait until nightfall and attack with shadow creatures?’

Pollen was silent for a long moment. ‘She did say a war was coming.’

‘Maybe she was lying,’ Queen Bee said.

‘I doubt it. Papillion has been lying low for the last three weeks for a reason, and now suddenly he’s coming. A war must be coming. Probably tonight. Maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe she’s just here to grab Adrien, to protect him.’

‘And Papillion gave her an army to do that?’ Queen Bee asked. ‘An army and a kwami?’

‘The presence of the kwami implies that the peacock was in favor of this as well,’ Pollen said. ‘We don’t know enough about her to imagine what she would be after.’

The last notes of Rena Rogue’s flute faded away. Queen Bee turned her head to see the flute dissolve into smoke and fade away. Rena Rogue swayed unsteadily on her feet and then she collapsed, falling from the building and hurtling towards the ground.

Queen Bee lunged into the air, but she didn’t get far before a shell appeared out of nowhere, catching Rena Rogue and lowering her to the ground.

Queen Bee dropped back to the ground. The remaining possessed humans were snapping out of the daze, stopping their attacks on each other and starting to attack her instead.

Chat was already in motion, using his staff to fight as many of them at once as he could, knocking them senseless so that Ladybug could cure them, but there were just so many of them, an almost endless stream that was going to overwhelm him in no time at all. He probably could have fought that many if they were just regular humans, but possessed as they were he might not be able to do it even with Ladybug’s help.

Queen Bee joined the fight, kicking and taking down as many of them as she could, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

One possessed human almost grabbed her. Queen Bee didn’t get a chance to react before a shell come flying in out of nowhere, smashing into the possessed human’s head and knocking them out cold.

She looked over at Carapace. He was staying close to Rena Rogue, clearly refusing to leave her lying on the ground undefended, but he had his eyes on the battle, throwing shells any time any of them were in danger, or anytime one of the possessed people broke away from the group and headed toward the school.

Queen Bee turned back to the fight and kicked another possessed human hard enough to knock them down.

‘That’s not going to be enough,’ Pollen said. ‘You need to use your powers.’

‘You mean the horrible, traumatizing powers that filled my head with screaming voices? No thanks.’

‘That’s because you used it on shadow creatures,’ Pollen said impatiently. ‘That’s not what it’s for. This is exactly what it’s for. Unity through communication.’

‘Again with the unhelpful...’ Queen Bee started to say, when Pollen’s words sank in and suddenly, everything made sense.

She raised her hands and yelled out a quick warning. “Duck!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir took one look at her and hit the deck. Ladybug threw out a string and roped Carapace’s legs together. He shrieked as he fell over.

Then Queen Bee reached inside and let out as much power as she could.

For a second, she was scared that nothing was going to happen, that her last experience had been too traumatic and she wouldn’t be able to do it anymore.

But then dozens of stingers shot from her hands, shooting into possessed humans and disappearing in little flashes of light. They hit close to a third of the possessed humans that were still standing before Queen Bee had to stop, putting her hands on her knees as she panted for breath. Ladybug, Chat, and Carapace slowly got to their feet.

She watched the possessed humans carefully, hoping and praying with everything in her that she’d understood what Pollen was saying, that her abilities were what she thought they were.

For a long, agonizing moment, nothing happened.

Then the look of shock faded from the possessed humans faces, and they started to move, to attack again.

‘Didn’t work,’ Queen Bee thought, feeling defeated. ‘I can’t even hear their thoughts.’

‘You can’t hear them because that wasn’t what you were trying to do, and what you were trying to do worked,’ Pollen said. ‘Now all you need is to summon that bossy nature of yours.’

One of the closest possessed humans tried to kick Queen Bee. She dodged backwards and took a deep breath. “Stop!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Instantly, every possessed person she had hit stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes changing from blue to honey gold.

She looked at Lila and felt fury swell within her. “You’re not going to get away with this,” she said, and as she spoke dozens of voices joined hers, dozens of possessed humans turning to look at Lila as they spoke in unison with her. “This is our city, and we will not just stand here and let you take it.”

As the words tumbled out of her mouth, Queen Bee started to realize that they weren’t hers, or at least not just hers. That the anger and the determination and the strength she felt were not just hers. That they came from dozens of people, dozens of people who were sharing all their emotion and all their strength, moving and thinking in a unison that even Papillion couldn’t break. He was still there in the back of their minds, trying to tell what to do and how to think, but he was being drowned out by the sound of so many voices speaking as one.

But it wasn’t a cure, and not all of the possessed humans were being affected. Queen Bee wasn’t powerful enough to do that, which meant there was still a battle to fight.

The other possessed humans attacked, and Queen Bee’s new army responded in kind, fighting the others, protecting each other, standing together as a unified whole.

It made the playing field a lot more even, but not quite even enough, and Queen Bee wasn’t sure how long she could hold so many minds together. Her fighting ability was severely impaired as well. She was too exhausted to do much good.

Then there was a yell, and Queen Bee’s classmates came streaming out of the school, armed with brooms and textbooks and pretty much anything they could get their hands on, running at the possessed humans with reckless abandon. One of the possessed humans took one look at Ivan running at them, carrying a desk over his head, and immediately turned and booked it the other direction. They didn’t get far before someone with glowing yellow eyes tackled them.

Carapace watched them stream past them with wide eyes. Then he surged forward, running after them in a panic as Rena Rogue struggled to her feet.

The class slammed into the possessed humans with various war cries, all of them weird. Ivan’s words were incomprehensible but very clearly being sung instead of spoken, and unless Queen Bee had lost her mind, Rose’s cry was something about apple juice.

Their complete lack of fear and the random objects they were swinging seemed to cause the possessed humans a significant amount of confusion, generating far more confusion and even panic in their ranks then Queen Bee would ever have expected normal humans to be able to cause, but then again, maybe normal wasn’t the best word to describe her class.

There definitely weren’t words to describe how much Queen Bee loved them in that moment.

A rush of affection washed over her, and instantly, the yellow-eyed humans were moving, falling backward to join her classmates, protecting them with the same zeal Queen Bee was feeling.

For a moment, they were winning. For a moment, Ladybug was curing possessed people left and right and the rest of them didn’t seem to really know what to do with themselves, making them easy pickings for Chat Noir and Carapace, and Queen Bee herself, even as exhausted as she was.

And then Nathanael was next to her, covered in paint and carrying more tubes of it in his hands with more stuffed into his pockets. He sprayed one possessed human directly in the eyes and stepped closer to her so that she could hear him over all the yelling and said two words that made all of Queen Bee’s happy feelings evaporate into thin air.

“Rena Rogue!”

Queen Bee’s head snapped towards Rena Rogue. Lila was standing a few feet away from her. She threw a fan towards Rena Rogue. It cut through her like she wasn’t even there, and then she wasn’t, dissolving in a cloud of smoke.

Lila let out a scream of frustration that Queen Bee could see but not hear and sent fans flying everywhere, at every object in sight. Most of the fans slammed into things and dissolved, but one of them hit a pole that started to bleed. The pole vanished into smoke and then Rena Rogue was standing there, one hand covering a bleeding cut on her arm.

Rena Rogue’s legs buckled underneath her and she collapsed to the ground. Lila smiled and lunged toward her.

Queen Bee let out a scream that no one but Nathanael would have heard if dozens of voices hadn’t screamed with her.

“RED!”

The other heroes turned and saw what was happening. Ladybug let out a scream of protest and took off, shooting forward like a rocket toward Rena Rogue. Chat Noir threw his staff. Carapace raised his hands, and green mist enveloped Rena Rogue just as Lila reached her. Blue feathers surrounded both of them, and then they were both gone.

Ladybug landed and for a second, stood frozen in shock.

The possessed humans attacked, taking advantage of their distraction. Then Ladybug let out a furious yell, and bubbles swarmed away from her in a massive range that cured all the possessed humans at once, the ones Queen Bee was linked to as well as the ones she wasn’t.

Queen Bee felt the connection snap, her power broken as Ladybug crumpled to the ground, her face a mask of pure devastation.

And just like that, the battle was over.

And Rena Rogue was gone.


	24. Queen Bee

Ladybug looked like she was about to fall apart. She just kept staring at the place where Rena Rogue had disappeared, like the intensity of her gaze might somehow bring her back.

Everyone else stood around in a mixture of shock or confusion, no one quite sure what to do.

Carapace was the first one to break the silence, though he looked just as stricken as everyone else did. “I guess my immunity doesn’t work against teleportation.”

He sounded broken, and his words only made everything worse, sending a ripple of concern through the gathered crowd and a shudder through Ladybug.

Queen Bee glanced over at Chat Noir. He looked stricken. Of course, he did. Chat- Adrien- didn’t have enough friends that he could afford to lose one. And she figured Rena Rogue going away had sent him flashing back to his mom’s disappearance. Maybe Chloe going AWOL on him had done the same thing.

Which meant that since they really needed someone to hold it together. It was going to be have to be Queen Bee.

“We’ll get her back,” she said loudly, her voice full of confidence she did not feel and determination she definitely did. She turned to face the people who had been possessed. “Everyone, please return to your homes. Lock the doors. Stay inside. If a war is coming, you need to get to safety. If we have to protect or rescue you and fight, we will not be able to win, so get inside. Stay safe. As we have been asking you to do for weeks.”

Several of the possessed humans looked down. Several others shuffled their feet, the whole group looking properly abashed. Queen Bee held their gaze until they all started to move, filing off in different directions, heading back home.

Good. Queen Bee was pretty sure Ladybug was about to have a breakdown, and it was not going to help for the citizens of Paris to see that from the hero they trusted the most.

Queen Bee glanced at her classmates, still gathered around her. “Thank you for the help. Don’t get me wrong, it’s better if you don’t make this a habit. You guys aren’t like us, and you need to be careful. But today, you were here when we needed you, and we owe you for that. You were magnificent.” She could practically see Kim’s chest puffing up, see plans for “next time” kick starting in Alix’s brain. “But Don’t. Do. It. Again,” she added as sternly. “It was brave, but it was also stupid. Of course we want you to fight back if someone tries to take you, but if you’re somewhere safe, stay safe. Unless you wake up with superpowers, I don’t want to see any of you running into a battle again. Got it?”

They all nodded, except Nathanael, who was staring at her like something she was saying was confusing him. The rest of the class started to file away, but he stayed put. So did Sabrina, stepping away from the rest of the class to stand by him, looking at Queen Bee expectantly.

“What?” Queen Bee asked.

“Chloe never came back after she left here,” Sabrina said, her voice starting off tentative and ending as pure steel.

Nathanael chimed in, a frown pinching his brows together. “And Alya disappeared upstairs to grab stuff. We tried to find her when we were talking about coming out here, but she was nowhere. Marinette, too. If they’re both gone…”

Queen Bee cut him off. “It’s okay. They might still be somewhere, hiding. And if they’re not, we’ll find them.”

Sabrina didn’t move, locking eyes with Queen Bee. “Chloe’s not hiding. She would have come and found me first if she decided to hide. And she wouldn’t have voluntarily run farther than she had to. She hates running. Something’s wrong, or she’d be back here.”

Nathanael shuffled his feet nervously, his skin flushing as red as his hair as he looked at Queen Bee and then looked down at the ground. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “We uh, we need to find… Chloe.”

“We will,” Queen Bee said firmly. “Get inside.”

Nathanael nodded. Sabrina looked like she wanted to argue, but Nathanael grabbed her and pulled her back toward the school.

Queen Bee turned, looking at the devastated faces of the other heroes. She took a deep breath and walked over to Ladybug. She spoke, keeping her voice business-like and unemotional, trying to trigger the strength that Ladybug usually had and that they desperately needed right now. “Why take Rena Rogue? Was it because she was so weak, or…?”

Ladybug cut her off, her head still bowed and body slumped but voice surprisingly strong. “No, this was the plan. Bringing that many possessed people so that illusions were the only way to stop enough of them for us to win; coming here, where Rena Rogue has historically been the first one to show up…. They were after Rena. It’s why Lila wouldn’t fight any of us. I know why she’d want to Trixx back. I’m not sure why Papillion and Le Peon are backing her up, but…” Her voice trailed off.

‘Two birds with one stone, probably,’ Pollen said, her voice more subdued than Queen Bee had ever heard it before. ‘If they’re about to start a war, there are a lot of reasons why they’d want their hands on one of us. I’m sure they’re not able to force many kwami to bond to people, since they gave Lila a peacock instead of a new kwami, but since Lila and Trixx have been bonded before, it’ll be easier to force Trixx to bond with her again, and then they’ll have three weres instead of two. And Lila’s already experienced with Trixx’s powers. They’ll be up one, we’ll be down one- we won’t stand a chance.’

Queen Bee nodded thoughtfully, looking at the faces of her comrades. Judging from the unfocused, glazed over looks in their eyes, their kwamis were probably telling them something similar. Even Chat’s, though Chloe knew Plagg didn’t say helpful stuff to Adrien very often.

“Hey, Green,” Queen Bee said. Chat Noir and Carapace looked at her, some of the shock and horror on their faces being replaced by curiosity. “How long will your immunity last?”

Carapace thought for a second. “An hour, maybe. If I don’t de-transform.”

“Well, don’t de-transform then,” Queen Bee said.

Carapace looked startled. “Of course not.”

Queen Bee nodded. “Then that means we have an hour to find and save Red before they can do anything to her.”

Ladybug spoke from the ground, her voice so brittle it made Queen Bee feel like she was shattering herself. “No, we don’t.” They all stared at her, startled. She kept talking before any of them could ask her what she meant. “Rena Rogue was really weak when Lila took her. She won’t be able to stay transformed for an hour. And once she’s in civilian form, it’ll be so much easier for them to do whatever they want to do to her. They could threaten her family…” Her voice broke. She took a deep breath. “She’s not going to be able to stand up to them in civilian form.”

Her words hung in the air like a guillotine, about to slam down, cutting off all their hope and determination and ending their chance to save Rena Rogue.

Queen Bee wasn’t about to let it fall. She looked at Carapace, who looked like all the air was being sucked out of his lungs. “What do you think, ‘Pace?” she asked, keeping her tone light. “Do you think Red can handle Lila in her civilian form? I mean, you do know who she is, don’t you?”

Her words worked. Ladybug’s head raised just a little and Chat Noir’s jaw dropped. Carapace’s eyes widened as he looked at Queen Bee. “How did you…?” He stopped himself. “Yeah, I do.”

“How?” Chat Noir asked, the surprise making him momentarily lose focus.

Carapace shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “When I was dying, I saw her face, and I just… recognized her.”

Queen Bee’s brain whirled. She’d almost recognized Chat Noir and Ladybug the night she’d become a were. Maybe dying made it so their disguises didn’t work as well. Maybe she would have known who they were, if she would have opened her eyes while she was actually dying, instead of just looking at them afterward. Or at least would have recognized Chat at least. He’d seemed more familiar to her, maybe because she’d known Adrien so much longer than Marinette, maybe because he mattered to her so much more.

Which meant that if Carapace could recognize Rena Rogue on sight, he must know her civilian form pretty well.

“And you think she’ll be able to handle herself?” Chat asked.

Carapace snorted. “She’s not quite as good a fighter, but in every other way, she can take care of herself just as well as a civilian as Rena Rogue. She can certainly handle Lila.” He paused. “Though I’m guessing Papillion and Le Peon are a bit tougher. But even then, I’d never bet against her. She is… made of the toughest stuff I’ve ever seen. I don’t even think this is her first time getting captured.”

And just like that, all the little bells in Queen Bee’s brain went off. Who did she know that had been captured before? Who was made of ridiculously tough stuff? Who had been captured before? Who Nathanael had even told her had gone missing? Who would get even more protective when she found out Ladybug was Marinette? Who did she know who could possibly be Rena Rogue?

Alya.

As soon as Queen Bee realized, she felt like an idiot. Of course Alya was Rena Rogue. How in the world had she not seen it not it first? No wonder Carapace had seen it instantly.

Queen Bee glanced at Carapace, thought about what she’d learned about him in the last couple of weeks of training. About how he was such a weird mix of anxiously energetic and chill, confident and humble, endlessly capable and yet somehow still incredibly clueless.

And he knew Alya well enough to recognize her instantly.

Which left Queen Bee with only one question: why hadn’t Nino recognized Adrien too?

Chat blinked. “Well, that’s good news I guess.” He didn’t look like he’d just come to the same startling realization as Queen Bee had. Ladybug didn’t even look like she’d heard what Carapace had said.

Queen Bee nodded. “Yeah, it is. Because if we’re going to save her, we need some time to de-transform, recharge. Then we can save her.”

Carapace stared at her. “But we don’t know where to find her.”

“No point in stealing one of our members unless he’s going to attack us before we have a chance to get her back,” Queen Bee said. “We just need one shadow creature. It drinks any blood, and then it’ll go straight back to Papillion. We can just follow it. That’s how I found him before.”

Ladybug pushed herself off the ground. “That’s a good idea. We can come up with a plan of attack once we get to his hideout and see exactly what we’re up against.” She paused. “But we need to be at our strongest once we get there. Which means we can’t really afford to let a shadow creature bite us. I’m sure we’ll need all my healing power for the fight.”

Queen Bee shook her head. “You bit me, remember? I gained some of your healing ability. It doesn’t work against Bird Brain’s fans, but it does work against a shadow creature’s bite, probably because that’s what you saved me from. The bite might take a little time to heal, but the effects go away almost instantly. I can afford to get bitten again. All we need is one shadow creature.”

“Well, yeah,” Chat said, looking uncomfortable with Queen Bee’s suggestion. “But even if Papillion attacks us right away, he’s not going to send just one shadow creature.”

“He can send as many as he likes,” Ladybug said, her voice full of a fire that would have been terrifying if she wasn’t on their side. “We will crush them all and we will get to Rena Rogue. Before they have a change to hurt her.” Her tone left no room for indecision or argument.

Chat nodded, the tension draining out of his shoulders. Like just because Ladybug had said it was going to happen, there was nothing to worry about now. It was going to happen for sure.

Carapace didn’t look nearly as relaxed. His eyes flicked from one of them to the next. “Okay,” he said slowly. “You three change back. Recharge. I’m going to go talk to the mayor, get him to tell everyone to go inside and lock their doors. I’ll stay transformed, so the mist will last around Rena Rogue as long as possible. We’ll meet back here in…?”

“Half an hour,” Ladybug said grimly. “That’s as much time as we can afford to spend recharging, so it’s going to have to be enough.

“Okay,” Carapace said. He took off. So did Chat.

Queen Bee turned, planning on heading out, but Ladybug caught her hand. Queen Bee looked back at her curiously.

“I just wanted to say thanks,” Ladybug said. Queen Bee blinked in surprise. “I um… I know kind of come apart earlier. And I wanted to say thanks. For picking up the slack. I’m sure I could have pulled it together and gotten things done, and I’m sure Chat Noir would have helped me, but I’m really glad that I didn’t have to. I’m glad Carapace was there to put the mist around Rena Rogue, and I’m glad you were there so the rest of could afford not to function for a minute.” She paused for a second. “You weren’t someone I would’ve chosen to be a hero, given the choice. I wouldn’t have added anyone, really. And I wasn’t always sure you had it in you to be a good one, knowing who you are, what you were like.”

“Wow, thanks,” Queen Bee said dryly. “Can I go now?”

Ladybug smiled slightly. “But you turned out to be a better hero than I would’ve expected anyone to be. All three of you did. Rena Rogue, Carapace. And you. You are amazing. So I’m really glad I wasn’t given the choice. I’m really glad that you became Queen Bee. I’m really glad that you’re one of us.”

Ladybug turned and left, flying away.

Queen Bee flew away too, heading to a private place so she could change back. ‘It was really nice of her to say that.’

Pollen was silent for a long moment. ‘Yeah, it was,’ she said reluctantly.

There was a strange note to her voice, and if there hadn’t been so many other things to focus on, Chloe would have asked her why that was.

But instead she checked the time on her phone. ‘So we’ve got half an hour to recharge. I’m guessing that’s not enough time to get back up to full strength.’

‘Not really, no.’

‘Anyway, we can speed that up?’ Chloe asked.

‘Sure. You could eat copious amounts of honey or…’

Chloe cut her off. ‘Let’s go with honey.’

‘Good idea,’ Pollen agreed. ‘You can either break in somewhere and steal it, or you can go back into the school and get your stash.’

Chloe thought about that for a second. ‘I think the whole class is probably still downstairs anyway. Might as well go to the classroom and get the honey out of my bag.’

‘How are you going to get in? I think they’ve probably barricaded all the doors again by now.’

Chloe smiled. ‘Wasn’t planning on walking in a door.’

She took a running start at the school, kicking up the wall, using the windows as handholds and slipped in through the window of her classroom.

‘Wow, Chloe,’ Pollen said, her tone dry and full of a false lightness. ‘No one’s even around and you’re still a showoff.’

Chloe ignored her and ran over to her bag, reaching in to find three jars of honey and a bottle of honey lemonade.

She was in the middle of draining the third jar of honey when a voice at the door made her jump.

“Have you been here the whole time?” Nathanael asked. She whirled to stare at him with horrified eyes, wiping honey off her chin. “Because I checked here after you disappeared from the fight. Had you not gotten here yet, or were you hiding under a desk again?”

Chloe glared at him. “I don’t hide under desks.” She thought about that for a second as Nathanael smirked at her. “Okay, well, not often.”

She went back to eating her honey. Nathanael came and sat down on the floor next to her. Chloe tried really hard not to notice how that made her heart beat faster and her stomach fill with butterflies, but it was pretty much all she could think about.

“Well, since you’re here, and since we’re stuck inside the building anyway, maybe now we could… talk?” Nathanael asked. His voice started off sure and ended self-conscious. He held her shoes out to her. She took them and put them in her bag.

‘Oh my gosh,’ Chloe vented silently to Pollen. ‘This is not what I need right now. Why did I have to kiss him today? I should have kissed him on literally any other day but today.’

‘You should have kissed him a month ago,’ Pollen muttered.

‘Shut up.’

Nathanael was staring at her. Chloe squirmed uncomfortably. “I really don’t think now is the best time for that,” she said quietly, putting the jar down and pulling the bottle out of her bag. “I, um… I don’t have a lot of time.”

Nathanael frowned. “You don’t have a lot of time? But…” he stopped dead, his face going even paler than normal. “You’re going back out there.”

It wasn’t a question, but Chloe nodded anyway.

“What? You can’t! You’re not a superhero. It’s bad enough that Queen Bee’s caught in whatever Papillion’s planning. You can’t get involved in it too! Besides, she told us not to.”

Chloe tried really hard not to be irritated at the way Nathanael said Queen Bee’s name. But she couldn’t quite get rid of all of it, and some of it bled into her voice when she answered him. “Unless you wake up with superpowers,” she said tersely. She took a big gulp of honey lemonade and set the bottle down. “And I already have.” She stood up and walked back toward the window. “See you later, Tomatohead.”

“Chloe,” Nathanael started to say.

Chloe didn’t listen to whatever Nathanael was trying to say. Instead, she stepped out the window, ignoring Nathanael’s startled shriek. She flipped on her way down and landed neatly on her feet.

‘Showoff,’ Pollen said. ‘At least this time you’re showing up for someone though.’

Chloe didn’t dignify that with a response. She turned to leave, but Nathanael yelled her name again. The desperation in his voice made her turn to look up at him, just in time to see him jump out of the window.

Chloe yelped in surprise. She moved automatically, stepping over and raising her arms to catch Nathanael.

She caught him fine, but then immediately overbalanced and fell over.

Nathanael scrambled to his feet. “Sorry, Chloe,” he said hastily, holding out a hand to help Chloe up.

She ignored it, glaring at him instead. “You lunatic!” she said accusingly. Nathanael flinched, maybe because of her tone, maybe because of the expression on her face, maybe both. “You have got to stop jumping off of stuff.”

Nathanael frowned. “But…” He stopped himself and shook his head, like whatever he was going to say wasn’t important. “Look, I get that you’re part vampire now. I get that you’re fast, and strong. But if Papillion sends vampires out here, what are you going to do? They’re the reason you’re fast and strong, and you’re not fully well of them. You won’t be able to outrun them. You definitely won’t be able to overpower them. You need to get back inside, because if the vampires come out, you’re not any safer out here than I am. And we already know that they’re after you, probably because they don’t know why you’re not one of them.”

Chloe shook her head. “I’ll be fine. The shadow vampires can’t come out during the day anyway.”

“Yes, they can!” Nathanael sounded almost hysterical. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair in obvious frustration. “We know they can. We’ve seen them out before it was dark before. They might not be quite as powerful during the day, but if there are enough of them, that’s not going to matter!”

Chloe frowned at him. She knew what he was talking about, the first time she’d been able to transform into Queen Bee, but that didn’t explain everything. “It was close to being dark though. Now it’s in the middle of the day, and if Papillion could send them out in the middle of the day, why wouldn’t he bed doing that the whole…” Her voice trailed off. “Unless he wanted us to think that we were safe during the day. Unless this whole thing was just so that once he had enough shadow vampires, he could launch a sneak attack.”

Nathanael nodded impatiently. “Now, I’m sure the heroes can handle themselves, but you shouldn’t be out here.”

“I have to warn the oth… I have to warn the heroes,” Chloe said. “If they’re all separated when an army comes out of the shadows…” She looked at him. “You get inside.”

Nathanael folded his arms over stubbornly over his chest.

Chloe wanted to scream in frustration. “Just get inside. I’m going to warn them about the shadow creatures and then I’ll get inside too. I promise,” she said, as convincingly as she could.

Nathanael glared at her. “You know Chlo, I really expected you to be a better liar.”

“Oh, for… Just get inside, Nathanael!” Chloe snapped.

“No. Not without you.”

Chloe glared at Nathanael and Nathanael glared back, and Chloe found herself in one of those rare situations where her death glare wasn’t up to par. “Okay, fine. You’re going to stick with me until I go back inside? Then you’d better develop super speed in the next two seconds.”

She pushed herself to her feet and Nathanael’s eyes widened as he processed what she was saying. He moved like he was going to try and stop her, but Chloe dodged around him easily and headed down the street, running in the direction Ladybug had disappeared off to.

“Chloe! Just listen to me for once,” Nathanael said, but Chloe kept running.

‘You can yell loud enough that the other kwamis can hear you, right, Pollen?’ Chloe asked.

‘I can if you transform,’ Pollen answered.

‘Okay. I’ll transform as soon as I get out of Nathanael’s sight,’ Chloe said. She braced herself for Pollen to yell at her for leaving Nathanael behind, but Pollen didn’t say anything about it.

She was about halfway down the street, about to turn a corner and transform when the shadow vampires started to appear.

Instantly, Chloe changed directions, turning around and running back to Nathanael as fast as she could.

A shadow creature stepped in front of her. Chloe let out a yell of fury and kicked it in the face. Its head snapped backward and Chloe used its face like a springboard, jumping straight over the creature. She hit the ground running.

Another creature got in her way and Chloe executed the fastest tuck and roll that had probably ever been done on the planet, tucking and rolling under its legs.

None of it was enough. None of it got Chloe to Nathanael before a shadow creature raked its claws across his chest. Nathanael stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, his head hitting the pavement. Then he didn’t move.

Chloe heard a scream, saw a flash of yellow light. It took a moment for her to realize that both of them were her, that she was screaming, that she was transforming.

Shadow creatures swarmed in front of her, getting in between her and Nathanael.

And they really shouldn’t have done that.

She raised her hands, not caring that the shadow creatures didn’t mean to do what they were doing, not caring that if she used her powers she’d read their very painful minds and probably shut down again. It didn’t matter if she hurt herself, and it didn’t matter if it hurt them. All that mattered was that she got to Nathanael.

She summoned her powers and she felt a flash of power of power from Pollen she’d never felt before.

She waited for stingers to shoot everywhere, but instead they formed directly in front of her hands. The second they formed, they bled into each other and created a strange weapon, too long to be a top, too round to be a knife, too handheld to be a drill.

Queen Bee didn’t try to figure out what it was. Instead she swung it hard at the nearest creature.

The weapon connected with the creature and started to spin, generating yellow light as it did, burning a hole into the shadow creature in a fraction of a second.

After that, Queen Bee was just a blur of speed, barely paying attention to her own movements, kicking and swinging her weapons, until who knew how many creatures had dissipated, and several others had fallen back, running away from her as she snarled at them.

‘Chloe,’ Pollen said, her voice strained. ‘I’m losing you to your shadow side. You have to fight it.’

Queen Bee ignored her and collapsed at Nathanael’s side.

He wasn’t breathing.

“No. No, no, nononono!” Queen Bee wasn’t sure if her screams were out loud or in her head. It didn’t even matter. “He can’t die. He can’t. He’ll change, right? He won’t die.”

‘They didn’t bite him,’ Pollen said, her voice endlessly sad. ‘He wasn’t bitten by a shadow creature. He’s not going to change.’

“Where’s Ladybug? We need Ladybug! Can’t you call her?” Queen Bee begged.

Pollen’s voice was broken when she answered. “She… she won’t get here in time. He’s too far gone.’

‘No! He can’t be gone!’ Queen Bee’s mind raced, grasping for a solution as the panic built in her chest. Then it stopped. ‘Pollen, untransform me,’ Queen Bee said calmly, her tone making no allowances for any disagreement. There was a flash of yellow light. Chloe looked at her bare hands.

They were a light shade of purple, like they’d been the first time she’d tried to bite Nathanael.

That wasn’t good enough.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, latching on to every painful memory she had, drowning themselves in memories of pain, hers and other peoples. Burning Chloe away, leaving something else in her wake.

A monster. A monster who wanted blood instead of honey.

A vampire.

‘Chloe?’ Pollen’s voice was so faint Chloe could barely hear it and full of panic. ‘Chloe, what are you doing?’

Chloe didn’t answer her, just opened her eyes and looked at her skin, now a purple so dark she wasn’t much lighter than a shadow creature. Her fangs now dripped with venom that made her mouth burn. The smell of Nathanael’s blood filled her nose. She wanted it so badly, she almost couldn’t think of anything else.

Almost.

She grabbed what was left of the front of Nathanael’s shirt and pulled him up toward her, burying her fangs into his neck.

Nathanael jerked instantly, the veins in his neck turning purple. It spread quickly through the rest of the veins in his body, followed closely by a lavender that took over all his skin.

Pollen must have figured out what Chloe’s plan was, because she didn’t even to think about transforming. She was Chloe one second and Queen Bee the next, her teeth no longer fangs but still buried in Nathanael’s neck. She broke away from him after a moment, lowering him back onto the pavement. He’d moved once, but he wasn’t moving now. Wasn’t breathing.

‘This’ll work, right?’ Queen Bee asked Pollen desperately. ‘He’ll become a were? Someone will pick him right. A kwami will pick him? A kwami is going pick him, they have to pick him!’

She was losing it. Pollen’s voice cut her off before she could get any more hysterical. ‘YOU HEARD HER,’ Pollen said, her voice painfully loud in Queen Bee’s head. Queen Bee knew, somehow, without being told, that dozens of kwamis could hear her, any kwami anywhere near here, whether they had a host or not. ‘SOMEONE IS GOING TO PICK NATHANAEL. YOU ALL KNOW BETTER THAN TO DEFY ME.’

‘Would you stop yelling already?’ a deep terrifying male voice responded. ‘I was here before you got all demanding, just give me a second.’

‘You?’ Pollen asked as Queen Bee froze in surprise, her eyes widening. ‘But…’

She didn’t get a chance to finish her statement before a blinding light surrounded Nathanael. Queen Bee yelped and shielded her eyes from the yellow light.

Relief flooded her body. Nathanael had been chosen by a kwami. He was going to be a were.

‘Chloe,’ Pollen said gently. ‘He might not wake up. The more pain a person is in, the less likely it is that they’ll survive the transformation. You almost didn’t wake up and Nathanael… he might be in even more than you were.’

Queen Bee couldn’t breathe. ‘He has to wake up. He has to wake up.’

She didn’t wait for Pollen to say anything. She looked at Nathanael’s chest, waited for him to suck in a breath. He didn’t.

She grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him back up. “You have to wake up. Do you hear me? You have to wake up. If you don’t, I’ll… I’ll… I’ll make sure you’re wearing something really ugly for funeral.”

‘Chloe, you can’t mean someone back to life.’

Queen Bee ignored Pollen. “Do you hear me, Nath? Nathan? You’re not going into the light. You are going to wake up, or so help me, when I die I will find you in whatever afterlife there is and I will make yours hell.”

She shook him slightly, like she could jar him back to life.

‘Don’t do that!’ Pollen said. ‘That’s not going to help him wake up.’

Queen Bee’s mind started racing again. She almost hadn’t woken up. Adrien almost hadn’t woken up. But Nino, Alya, and Marinette had all woken up easily, and Nino at least had been in a lot of pain, and Adrien hadn’t, so that couldn’t be the only thing driving a wake up.

It was taking too long. Nathanael was going to slip away. He needed to wake up, and he needed to wake up now.

“Nath,” Queen Bee yelled, shaking him again. “You have to wake up. You. Have. To. Wake. Up. I can’t lose you, you mean way too much to me, I…” She stopped and bit her lip, and then something clicked in her brain.

Nino wanted to be a dj. Alya wanted to be a reporter. Marinette wanted to be a fashion designer. She and Adrien had big fat question marks over their dreams, at least as far as she knew. The others had dreams.

Specific ones.

Queen Bee took a deep breath and spoke as loudly and as clearly as she could, hoping that Nathanael would be able to hear and understand her words.

“And I will burn all your sketchbooks.”


	25. Carapace

Carapace had barely made it to city hall and told the mayor to have everyone lock themselves inside before the shadow creatures came swarming down the street.

Turns out, Carapace was a lot better at defending the other heroes while they fought the creatures than he was at just fighting the creatures himself. Though, part of the problem might have been the fact that Wayzz kept losing focus, leaving Carapace on his own to his fight. And Carapace wasn't a great fighter to start with, and he'd also never fought on his own before. He kept catching himself looking for the other heroes, trying to protect them, before he remembered they weren't there, usually right after a creature punched him in the face or the stomach.

Carapace hit the ground hard. He rolled backwards to avoid being stomped on by the shadow creature that had just punched him. He glared up at the shadow creature. "Rude!" He pushed himself up to a stand.

'Dude,' he said, focusing as much of his attention as he could spare on Wayzz. 'Could you please focus before I get us killed? Me killed? Before I get someone killed!'

Wayzz sounded almost... dizzy when he responded. 'But... that feeling... someone is... dy..."

Carapace ducked avoid another hit before he realized that it would probably have been better to counter with a shield and knock the creature over. 'Okay, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I really need your help here, dude. I do not have enough training for this!'

He could feel Wayzz struggling to focus. 'I... kwami... losing..."

Carapace barely avoided another hit with a scream that wasn't exactly heroic. He chucked a shield at the monster. It hit the creature hard enough to knock the creature over and then bounced directly backwards to hit Carapace in the stomach.

'Seriously. Wayzz. Help!'

Another shadow creature lunged at Carapace. He scrambled backwards, but a black baton came flying in out of nowhere, smacking into the creature and knocking it away from him.

Chat hit the ground beside him a moment later. "What's going on, Carapace?"

Carapace pushed himself off the ground. "Wayzz got distracted. And I apparently have not trained enough for this."

Chat nodded. "That makes sense. None of us could have fought this many just a few weeks after we changed, either."

He swiped his claws through the air, and black liquid burned against the shadow creature's skin, but the creature didn't go anywhere. Chat frowned. "They're out during the day, and they're not disappearing like they used to, either. It's weird."

Carapace frowned. "Maybe..." he started to say before the screaming cut him off.

'YOU HEARD HER. SOMEONE IS GOING TO PICK NAARTHOWLEWG. YOU ALL KNOW BETTER THAN TO DEFY ME."

Carapace's eyes widened at the sound of a non-Wayzz voice in his head. He looked at Chat to see if he'd herd it too. Chat's eyes were wide with surprise, but he didn't seem to feel the confusion that Carapace felt.

"What was that?" Carapace asked him.

"Pollen," Chat said, his voice grim. "It sounds like someone just died. A civilian. I didn't catch the name though."

"Me neither," Carapace said. He ducked a shadow creature's attack. "Whoever they are, I hope they're okay."

'They've already been chosen by a kwami,' Wayzz said, his voice stronger and clearer now. 'They'll be fine as long as they wake up.'

'How long do they have before... before its too late?' Carapace asked, slamming a shield into a shadow creature's face so fast and so confidently the thought could only come from Wayzz. Carapace felt a flood of relief to have Wayzz's focus back, though he was still worried about... whoever was dying.

Wayzz was silent for a long moment. 'I don't know. It depends on how fast they're dying and how much they're resisting going into the light. They might still be able to wake up for another minute or two but after that..."

He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.

Carapace and Chat Noir were doing a lot of damage against the shadow creatures, but no matter how many they fought, there were always more, and no matter how much damage they did against a shadow creature, it always got back up eventually.

Several shadow creatures moved towards them, and then suddenly all of them went flying into the air. Ladybug landed hard on the ground and tugged on the slender chains in her hands, bringing all the shadow creatures crashing back to the ground.

"We don't have time for this," she said, her voice a ferocious snarl. "We need to go get Rena Rogue."

"Well, yeah, but..." Chat stopped talking to leap out of a shadow creature's way. "I don't think these guys are going to let us go anywhere."

Ladybug let out a growl of frustration and slammed a few more shadow creatures into a building. "Then I guess we're going to have to make them!"

'They're awake,' Wayzz said quietly, distracting Carapace from responding to Ladybug. 'He's awake. We've got another were in the city, but he can't transform yet. I don't know how much help he'll be able to be.'

'I'm just glad he's not dead,' Carapace said. 'Uh... whoever he is.'

Wayzz didn't respond to that. Maybe he didn't know, or maybe he did and he just didn't want to tell Carapace.

"...open to suggestions!" Ladybug was saying. Carapace had missed the rest of the conversation, but he assumed that Chat Noir had asked her what the plan was.

"Maybe one of us could distract them, and the other ones could go on ahead and look for Rena Rogue. That way, at least someone will be there to help her," Carapace suggested. Then he frowned. "Though, I suppose I should probably be the decoy, and I'm not that great at fighting on my own..."

"Or I could," Chat Noir offered. "I have a better chance of damaging them enough that they have to stop fighting." He paused for a second before he spoke again, his voice much quieter. "Even though that hasn't exactly been working so far."

Ladybug shook her head. "I'm not leaving one person here to fight this many by themselves. It's not safe, even for us. And besides, I'm sure Papillion has given them instructions to go after me. If I can't heal anyone, defeating all of us gets much easier for him."

Carapace thought about that for a second as he threw up a shield to keep a shadow creature from hitting Chat Noir in the head. "I think we can get around that. We already know they're not exactly super geniuses."

Ladybug frowned as she grabbed a shadow creature with her hands and slammed it into another one. "Fine. But we need to find Queen Bee first."

'We can do that,' Wayzz said.

'What?' Carapace asked.

'I can sense kwamis who have been joined with a partner. Not all of my hosts can do it, but I could feel when the new were came, so you must be able.'

Carapace ducked and slammed a shadow creature in the gut with a shield. "Uh... how do I do that?" He didn't realize he'd said that out loud until Ladybug and Chat gave him curious looks.

'You have to stop moving. Close your eyes. Focus,' Wayzz said. 'Scan the city with your mind, and you'll be able to sense any kwamis partnered with a were. Find the bee kwami, and you find Queen Bee.'

"Yeah, no offense dude, but that sounds like a good way to die right now," Carapace said.

'I would recommend putting up a shield first,' Wayzz suggested patiently. 'It'll take the shadow creatures a few minutes to break through it, and if you need more time than that, I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir can buy you some more.'

Carapace looked at Ladybug and Chat. "Apparently, I can sense weres. So I can find Queen Bee, and maybe even Rena Rogue, but I'm going to need to hang out in a turtle shell for a couple of minutes for it to work."

Ladybug and Chat Noir stared at him for a second. "Then do it!" Ladybug said. Carapace nodded.

Carapace raised a turtle shell around himself. He made the walls as thick as he could so he'd be able to focus without worrying, so thick he couldn't see the shadow creatures through them.

Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the city outside of his shield.

Focusing was boring. Important, but boring.

Carapace imagined the city around him, trying to reach out with his mind and sense the bee kwami. But nothing was happened, and the fact that he was incredibly motivated- he had to find Queen Bee so that they could get to Alya/ Rena Rogue after all- didn't seem to be helping.

'That's the problem,' Wayzz said after what felt like an eternity of silence. 'You're looking for Queen Bee but the one you're really thinking about is Rena Rogue. it's making it so you can't find either of them. And you're stressed out because of the shadow creatures, which is only making it worse.'

'So what do I do to fix it?' Carapace asked.

'I don't know,' Wayzz said, his voice thoughtful. 'This is generally the best method, but maybe it's not the best method for you. What helps you to focus in a difficult situation? What clears your mind?'

What helped him to focus? Carapace could only think of one thing.

He closed his eyes and pretended that he had his headphones on. He hummed the tune to his favorite song, bobbing his head to the beat, and suddenly he was no longer stuck inside his shield. Suddenly he was looking over the entire city, looking at the brilliant glows at different places.

Weres, he realized. He looked for a yellow light first, and saw it almost immediately, the color of honey with slim strips of darkness fluctuating in it. Queen Bee. She wasn't that far away from them.

He looked for an orange light, but he couldn't see it.

'Why can't I see Rena Rogue?' Carapace asked Wayzz, panic rising.

'She must not be transformed anymore,' Wayzz said, his voice subdued. 'It makes her harder to see. Maybe she's too far away, or maybe you just need to focus more.'

'I'll try focusing...' Carapace started to say, but then his shield started to crack. 'Guess not.'

He dropped his shield and dropped to the ground. The shadow creatures stumbled forward, surprised at the sudden disappearance of the shield, and Carapace took advantage of their surprise to roll between one of their legs and move toward Ladybug and Chat.

"Sorry about that," Ladybug started to say. "We were about to pull them away but..." She yanked one of her chains, pulling a shadow creature in front of her jut in time for a shadow creature that was lunging at her to hit it instead. "Things are pretty chaotic out here. Did you find them?"

"I found Queen Bee but..." Carapace started to say, but then a group of shadow creatures came running off the top of the building, falling toward them. Carapace stared up at them in horror. He could see Chat Noir stiffening beside him. Ladybug looked up and stamped her foot in annoyance. She threw out her hands, and a wave of bubbles flooded the sky, forming chains right before it slammed into the shadow creatures, sending them flying back into the sky, over the buildings and out of sight. Carapace imagined they would come crashing back down halfway across Paris.

Ladybug turned to slam another shadow creature into the ground. She was panting pretty hard now, but her voice was still steady when she spoke. "But what?"

“But I can’t find Rena Rogue,” Carapace admitted.

Ladybug was silent for a moment. “Then we find Queen Bee and hope she can get us to her.”

Carapace nodded in agreement. “Okay, she's…” he stopped talking for a second as his skin tingled. “She’s coming to us.”

It happened in the blink of an eye.

One second Queen Bee wasn’t there, and the next second she was, flying in out of nowhere.

She flew through shadow creatures like they weren’t even there, landing only a few feet away from him with a yell of such rage that Carapace fell back a step automatically.

Several shadow creatures made the mistake of attacking her. Something like a dagger, but more spin-y and terrifying appeared in each of her hands. She cut through them, moving faster than Carapace had ever seen her move, cutting and kicking them down like they were made of paper with more terrifying, angry yells.

“Queen Bee!” Chat fought his way over toward her, but once he got within a few feet of her it became clear that she was just going to tear apart anything that came near her, and he fell back again. “Bee, are you okay?”

“Peachy,” Queen Bee growled. Her voice sent shivers down Carapace’s spine.

She pushed toward Ladybug, and Ladybug grabbed vampires and sent them flying out of Queen Bee’s way. “Queen Bee?” she asked, her voice full of carefully controlled emotion.

Queen Bee stepped toward her, throwing one of the daggers at a vampire. Then she held out her hand and shot a single stinger at Ladybug.

Ladybug gasped as it hit her, blinking several times. Chat threw himself in between her and the attacking shadow creatures. Ladybug looked at Queen Bee with wide eyes. “How did you find out where Papillion is hiding?”

“What, like he’s actually good enough to hide from a telepath? Please,” Queen Bee in a way that was probably supposed to sound dismissive but just sounded terrifying.

Ladybug and Chat both froze, staring at Queen Bee with wide eyes, filled with a horror that made it seem like they understood what she was saying. Carapace surrounded all of them in a shield before the vampires could attack any of them, a quick, haphazard shell that wasn’t going to last long at all. He watched nervously as the vampires pounded on the shell.

“But… but if you…” Ladybug started to say.

Queen Bee cut her off before she could stammer out the rest of the sentence. “It doesn’t matter. The point is this: you three are going to go there. Find Rena Rogue and take Papillion down, because this,” she pointed at the vampires. “Has to stop. Now.”

Chat looked like he was having trouble breathing. “Bee…” he said. “You… you can’t…”

His voice trailed off. Ladybug glanced at him and then at Queen Bee. “What are you going to do?”

Queen Bee looked at her and smiled. Carapace took a step back from her. “Well, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, someone has to keep the shadow creatures entertained.”

“What?” Ladybug said. “We’re not leaving you here by yourself to fight an army.”

Queen Bee just looked at her. “Trust me. I’ve got this. Besides,” she said, looking back at the shell just as it cracked. “You need to take down Papillion. And you need to take him down fast, because once I finish this, I’m meeting you guys there. And you better take Papillion down before I do, or I’m going to take him out. After everything he’s done, either his reign of terror ends today, or he does.”

All the honey was gone out of her tone. Her voice, normally at least a little warm and sweet, was now the coldest and most acidic thing Carapace had ever heard.

He didn’t doubt her. And judging from the looks on their faces, Ladybug and Chat Noir believed her too.

“We’ll take him down,” Ladybug said, looking at Queen Bee steadily. “This ends today.”

Queen Bee nodded slowly. “Yeah. It does.”

The shell cracked more. Carapace glanced nervously at the other heroes. “It’s going to break in a second.”

“The second it does, fly them out of here,” Queen Bee said, eyes flicking to Ladybug just long enough for them to know that who she was talking to, as if the fact that only one of them could fly wasn’t enough of a clue, before she turned her gaze on the vampires outside the shell. “I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can.”

Carapace wanted to ask how she was going to handle that many by herself, but now didn’t really seem like the time, and the unending rage that radiated off of Queen Bee made him too scared to ask anyway.

So instead he stepped over to Ladybug so she’d be able to grab him as soon as the shell went down.

Ladybug motioned for Chat to move closer too, and he nodded quickly like he understood, but he didn’t move immediately, his eyes locked on Queen Bee. “Bee careful,” he said weakly. “If you got hurt, if you… I don’t know what I’d do.”

“You bee careful,” Queen Bee retorted. “I’m pretty sure Bird Brain and Butterfly Boy are more dangerous than some hissing little shadows that aren’t even in control of their own actions.” She glanced at Ladybug, and then her eyes locked on Carapace. “All of you be careful. Protect each other, protect yourselves. If any of you die on me today, I swear…”

Carapace didn’t want to know what the end of that sentence was going to be. “I don’t know about them, but I wouldn’t dare.”

Queen Bee smiled slightly and created another one of her daggers. Both the new one and the one she’d already been holding lengthened until they were more like swords, but more much dangerous. “I’m ready.”

Ladybug wrapped one arm around Carapace’s waist. Chat Noir stepped reluctantly away from Queen Bee and Ladybug grabbed him too, raising her wings. “Drop the shield,” she told Carapace.

Carapace dropped the shield and Ladybug took off into the sky. Vampires leaped into the air and Carapace whacked some of them with shields. Chat swiped his claws through the air, and black liquid stopped the vampires, knocking them back to the ground, the places where the liquid had touched them sizzling.

And the rest went down like dominos under Queen Bee’s onslaught. She was tough, certainly, but Carapace couldn’t believe she’d be able to last long against so many vampires by herself.

He stared, concerned, watching Queen Bee for as long as he could.

Just before she disappeared from view, Carapace saw something like black smoke bleeding into the air around her.

Carapace’s jaw dropped. ‘What was that?’

‘I… I have no idea.’

Carapace blinked. ‘What? But you know everything.’

‘No,’ Wayzz said. ‘I don’t. That’s not a power of Queen Bee’s. It must have come from the shadow creatures. I’ve never seen anyone use Nooroo’s powers to do something quite like this before. I guess I still don’t know everything about them.’

‘Is Queen Bee going to be okay? I mean, if they’re doing something we’ve never seen before…’

‘She can handle herself. And she’s not alone,’ Wayzz said.

‘What?’ Carapace said. ‘But Rena Rogue got kidnapped, and the rest of us are here… except for the new were. But you said he couldn’t transform yet.’

‘He can’t. But that doesn’t mean he can’t fight, and I can feel him approaching. Queen Bee is not by herself.’

Carapace frowned. ‘How good of a fighter can he be untransformed? Do you really think he’ll be able to make that much of a difference?’

‘That depends on many things. And you should never underestimate a Queen Bee with allies.’

Carapace thought about earlier, when she’d turned so many possessed people against Papillion. ‘Yeah, that kind of makes sense.’

Wayzz didn’t get much chance to answer before Ladybug landed on a rooftop, her attention focused on a building in front of them. Carapace was surprised to see how far she’d gotten in such a short amount of time. Apparently with enough motivation, Ladybug was much faster than anyone had guessed.

The building in front of them didn’t look like much. It certainly didn’t look like a supervillain’s secret hideout.

Or at least it wouldn’t have, if it weren’t for all the vampires guarding it.

Ladybug studied the building. “There’s not that many of them. We should be able to get in. But it would be better if we could sneak in so it’s at least a little bit of a surprise.”

“You could drop me in through the roof,” Carapace suggested.

Ladybug looked at him like he’d suggested attacking the vampires with ice cream cones. Chat nodded in agreement and then did a double take, squinting at Carapace in confusion. “What?” they said in unison.

Carapace shrugged. “You fly up a ways above the building and drop me. I form a giant turtle shell and go smashing through the roof and maybe a couple of the floors.”

Ladybug nodded slowly. “Well, it would be more of a surprise than going through the front door, at least,” she said, looking over at Chat Noir. “But once we’re inside, what are we going to do? We need to attack Papillion, but we also need to find Rena Rogue.” She paused for a second, her eyes unfocusing. “Are we close enough now that you’ll be able to sense Rena Rogue?”

“Uh…” Carapace said. Ladybug and Chat Noir both gave him a worried look.

‘We can find Rena Rogue,” Wayzz said.

“We can find Rena Rogue,” Carapace repeated out loud.

Ladybug nodded. “Great. Then you find her and get her out, and Chat and I will take on Papillion. We’ll need you and Rena Rogue to get back to us as soon as you can, because going by what Queen Bee said, it’s going to take all of us if Le Paon or Lila shows up.”

Carapace and Chat Noir nodded in agreement, and Ladybug grabbed them again. She shot high into the air, flew over so that they were directly above the building, and then Ladybug dropped Carapace.

Carapace had been expecting it, of course, but as soon as he was falling he started to panic. It was all he could do to keep himself from screaming like a little girl as he plummeted toward the building.

‘It’s okay, Carapace,’ Wayzz said soothingly. ‘You’re going to be alright. You should put the shield up now though.’

A huge shield formed around Carapace. He couldn’t see or even hear out of it at all. He could tell he was falling because he had that falling sensation in the pit of his stomach, but he couldn’t tell if he was smashing through the roof or any of the floors. The falling sensation stopped, and he lowered his shell hesitantly, hoping he’d at least made a hole in the roof.

He’d made a hole in the roof alright. There was now more hole than there was roof, and there were more holes in every floor above him. He’d ended up on the ground floor, which now had a large crater in it that Carapace was standing on. So that was good.

He was surrounded by vampires, but Papillion, Le Paon, and Lila were nowhere in sight which was probably a good thing. More vampires they could handle.  
Ladybug and Chat Noir flew down through the hole, dodging vampires that leapt toward them from the upper floors and landed beside him.

"We'll handle this, you go find Rena Rogue. If you run into Papillion or Le Paon, try to lead them back to us," Ladybug said.

Carapace nodded quickly. He closed his eyes for a moment, humming a song that made him think of Alya. He felt a faint tug and ran off in that direction.

He didn't see Papillion or Le Paon as he ran, but he found himself running through a lot of different hallways. This was a pretty big way, so maybe they were here and he just hadn't run into them yet.

He ran into a lot of vampires though. He knocked them away with shields and kept running, his mind completely focused on Alya.

Finally, he got to the room where he felt her presence. Excitement rose in him as he threw a shield up around himself and crashed through the door.

She wasn't there.

He assumed that she had been there, based on the empty cage in the middle of the room, the broken furniture scattered around, and the number of shadow creatures laying around on the floor or on the tables, apparently knocked unconscious.

Carapace was pretty sure that it was impossible for the vampires to be knocked unconscious. Clearly, Alya had found a way around that.

Honestly, at this point, that wasn't even surprising. Of course she'd escaped. Of course she'd knocked out a room full of creatures that hadn't been knocked out.

But if she wasn't here, then why had he sensed her here?

'It must be the last place she was transformed,' Wayzz said. 'That's why this is the place where her presence is the strongest. You'll have to search for a weaker presence to find her. That's probably going to require a little more focus.'

Carapace nodded his understanding and closed his eyes, music playing in his head as he expanded his consciousness, until his mind filled the whole building. The first people he sensed were Ladybug and Chat Noir, green and red light wrapping around in each other in a perfect dance. It took him a moment to identify the other light by them, a purple so dark it as almost black. They must have found Papillion.

'They'll be fine,' Wayzz said. 'Find Rena Rogue first. Who knows what condition she's in.'

Carapace forced himself to focus again, looking for other, fainter lights. The first one he saw was blue, strong enough that he knew she was still transformed, weak enough that he knew that she'd taken a beating.

It took a couple of minutes for him to find the orange light not too far away from where the blue one was, weak and flickering like it was about to blink out of existence.

"No!" Carapace's eyes snapped open. He sprinted out of the room, heading toward the orange light.

But there seemed to be an endless swarm of shadow creatures in his way, like they were all converging on his location. No matter how many he slammed away, there were always more.

Carapace let out a yell of frustration, and a shield formed around him and then flew away from him, slamming the vampires into the walls.

And yet there were still more, and Carapace now felt a lot more tired than he had a moment ago.

'You need to focus,' Wayzz said. 'You're too distracted. Its making everything take too much power. You need to get your mind on fight.'

"Pretty hard to do when I'm worried that Alya might be dying," Carpace said.

Wayzz didn't answer for a second. 'I don't think that's why her light is flickering.'

"What?" Carapace asked, backing up as more shadow creatures charged towards him.

'It's most likely that...' Wayzz started to say.

But then more shadow creatures came around from the corner, coming up from behind him. "Seriously! Why are there so many of you?"

'Focus!' Wayzz said, and Carapace found his body moving without his permission, pushing back the attacking shadow creatures.

More kept coming, and Carapace kept fighting, but then he got slammed to the ground. He let out a surprised yelp.

He was going to knock them away from him, but he didn't have to.

A familiar sound filled the air. The sound of a flute.

Smoke filled the air, and all the shadow creatures, including the one who had just slammed him to the ground immediately collapsed. The one who had slammed him to the ground collapsed on top of him, and Carapace let out another yelp and pushed him off.

He pushed himself up off the ground and turned to look at Rena Rogue. She was lowering the flute from her lips, a furious expression on her face. If she'd been a flicker before, she was a blazing fire now. Carapace wasn't even trying and he could see the light bleeding off of her.

She raised her eyebrows at him like she was waiting for him to say something.

"Hi," Carapace said.

Rena Rogue's eyebrows raised higher. "Hi."

"I uh... I was coming after you... to save you?" Carapace said.

Rena Rogue nodded. "Well, you're doing a bang up job."

Weirdly enough, she didn't sound sarcastic. Carapace got back to his feet. "I knew you could hold your own against Lila but I really should have known you'd escape on your own."

Rena Rogue smiled. "Yeah, well that wasn't that hard." She laughed. It sounded borderline hysterical. "Except that it kind of was. I thought I was going to die." She laughed harder.

Carapace moved towards her slowly. "Are you... are you okay?"

"Perfect!" Rena Rogue said loopily. Then she collapsed.

Carapace lunged forward and caught her. "Whoa. Easy there." He turned his attention to Wayzz. 'What's wrong with her?'

'Trixx. It's wrong with Trixx,' Wayzz said.

Rena Rogue grabbed onto Carapace with shaky hands. "Lila.... She... She knows my identity."

Carapace frowned at her. "Again? She found out someone's identity again?"

Rena Rogue looked up at her. "She knows... who I am..." she said. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she went limp in his arms.


	26. Queen Bee

Queen Bee wasn't even surprised when Nathanael gasped for breath. She wasn't surprised when his body jerked up, or when his eyes opened. She wasn't surprised when he blinked like he was trying to focus, or when he gasped out a quiet "Don't you dare."

She wasn't surprised until he looked up at her and his eyes widened. She wasn't surprised until he whispered "Queen Bee," his voice soft and full of an emotion she couldn't- or at least didn't dare- name. She wasn't surprised until he reached up, brushing a hand across her cheek.

She wasn't surprised until she realized she was crying.

Queen Bee let go of Nathanael. He dropped back onto the ground with a quiet "ouch" that Queen Bee ignored. She stood up and turned away from him, wiping the tears off her cheeks and taking a deep breath, trying to let go all of the emotions swirling around her chest, making it hard for her to breathe outside of the shaky sobs that she could seem to stop.

"Queen Bee?" Nathanael's voice was a little louder now. "Are you alright?"

And suddenly the overwhelming swarm of emotions gave way to just one, hot and intense but crystal clear. She turned around and glared at Nathanael. He flinched at the look on her face, and Queen Bee glanced away from him, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't woken up." She paused for a moment, remembering how close she'd come to losing herself to the darkness. "Actually, yes, I do." She met his eyes. "I would have made sure that the person responsible for all of this stopped breathing soon after you did."

Nathanael's eyes widened. "What? You would... But that... that's not you. Why would you take it that far? I mean, you wouldn't have done something like that. Of course not. You'd never do something like that."

Queen Bee raised her eyebrows at him. "You know me better than that. I am not the saint the other heroes are, and after everything he's done, if he took you away from me, there isn't anything I wouldn't do to make him pay. And if you think about it for a minute, you might be able to figure out why that is."

Nathanael stared at her for a long moment. It looked like he wasn't breathing again, which was not good for Queen Bee's heart. He finally dropped his eyes from her to the ground and shifted uncomfortably. "Oh," he said quietly. She couldn't read the expression on his face or the tone in his face, but it didn't seem to be a positive reaction.

Maybe that was because she had just told him that she would've killed someone if he hadn't made it, but it wasn't like Papillion didn't deserve it. Besides, maybe if he was dead the screaming that filled her dreams would finally stop.

Chloe would have stomped her foot, demanded a better reaction to her confession than "Oh." But Queen Bee just sighed and moved on. "Anyway, I should get going. I have a whole city to protect, and I need to find the other heroes."

"No, wait," Nathanael said, sitting up straighter and looking panicked. "What about Chloe?"

Queen Bee blinked. "What about Chloe?"

He waved his hands around at the general area around them. "She's not here. She was here before I collapsed, and now she's gone. You can't have shown up that long afterwards. You must have seen her. Is she okay? Where she is?"

Normally, it would have made Queen Bee happy to see Nathanael so worried about her, about Chloe. But right now, she had to get out of here. "She's fine," she said dismissively. "She left. There are a lot..."

Nathanael cut her off. "She didn't leave." She looked back at him questioningly, to see him glaring at her with arms folded over his chest. "I was dying. She wouldn't have left me here like that. She would never have left me here alone."

She stared at him for a second, too surprised by the fire in his voice to speak for a moment. "I... I made her. She couldn't help, and I needed to make sure Paris was safe, so I promised her I'd save you and I made her leave."

He nodded slowly, the expression on his face strange, but he seemed to believe her.

"Okay, I really have to get going now," Queen Bee said.

She turned to go, but Nathanael's next words had her spinning around again. "Not without me."

She met Nathanael's eyes, hers wide with horror and his more resolute than the ground beneath her feet. "What?" she asked, her voice barely louder than a breath. "You can't... I told you... You have to stay inside!"

"Unless we woke up with superpowers," Nathanael said, his voice full of far more calm than made any sense in the situation at all. "Which I just did."

"Nathanael..."

He cut her off again. "I almost turned into a shadow vampire. I know. I could feel it. I'm willing to bet that I have a lot of the same powers as Chloe does. I mean, I can feel that too. If she's safe to be out here, than so am I."

"Chloe is trained. And you..."

"And I have another power as well, don't I?" Nathanael said, his voice full of a confidence that she'd never heard so much of from him before. "I mean, you said it."

"Said what?" Queen Bee asked, staring at him in confusion.

He looked surprised by her confusion. "When I was dying, and then there was all the light and the voice telling me not to go into it. Before you started threatening me. You said that I'd been chosen by a... what did you call it? A kwami. You said that I'd been chosen by a kwami. That I was going to be a were. That's what you guys are, right? Weres?"

Queen Bee stared at him for a long moment. "I didn't... I didn't say that."

Nathanael frowned at her. "But you did. I heard you."

She shook her head. "I didn't say it." He opened his mouth. "I thought it, but I didn't say it."

"You... thought it?"

Queen Bee nodded. 'So, by mental link you meant mind reading?'

'Just yours,' Pollen said, as if that was helpful. 'Well, most likely just yours.'

"I can... read minds now?" Nathanael asked, looking like someone had just pulled the world out from under his feet.

"Most likely just mine," Queen Bee told him.

He stared at her. "What?" he said weakly.

She didn't get a chance to respond to that before the shadow creatures started appearing again, swarming around them. "Alright, Nathanael. You think you can fight well enough to take care of yourself without any training? Prove it."

There were so many things he could have said or done in that moment that wouldn't have surprised her. He could have run away screaming. He could have asked her "how do I fight?" in a panicked voice. He could have tried to fight the creatures and sucked at it. He could have tried to fight the creatures and done really well at it. He could have pulled more paint tubes out of his pockets and started squirting them in the shadow creatures faces. He could have done or said a dozen other things.

So many things he could have done that wouldn't have surprised her, and yet the one thing he actually did surprised her very much.

He stepped toward her as the shadow creatures drew closer, putting his hands on her cheeks and leaning his forehead against hers, his eyes closing, his breath steady.

"Wha... What?" Queen Bee started to ask, but then she got sucked into her own memories, images flashing through her head so fast she could barely process them. She remembered learning what kwamis were, learning how to fight, learning how much damage it took to make a shadow creature dissipate back into the shadows, learning how each of the other heroes fought, learning how to use her own abilities and what they were. She remembered Master Fu speaking, telling her how to transform into a were.

"That is different for every were-creature. You must reach deep inside yourself. You must listen to the guardian spirit within you, and transform in whatever way the kwami tells you to."

It was all over in a moment. Nathanael let go of her and pulled away, and Queen Bee sucked in a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "What did you...? How did you...?'

Nathanael didn't answer her, turning to face the shadow creatures, bracing himself for a fight.

'His kwami,' Pollen said, as if that explained everything.

It didn't, but it also didn't change the fact that Queen Bee didn't have time to ask any more questions. It was time to fight.

A shadow creature moved toward Nathanael and Queen Bee moved toward him too, but Nathanael didn't need her help. He ducked and twisted around the creature, kneeing it from behind and sending it toppling over with more force than Queen Bee could have.

'What the...?' Queen Bee thought to herself as she summoned her knife/ top/ drill things back. She slammed a weapon into the nearest shadow creature and kicked another one away.

'His kwami has always been a particularly good fighter,' Pollen said. A creature attempted to lunge at him and Nathanael threw it over his shoulder, slamming it into the ground and moving on. 'It makes sense that the thing he got the easiest through the mental link was your memories of how to fight. This way, his kwami doesn't have to take over for him to do a good job fighting.'

Queen Bee slashed her way through a couple more shadow creatures, noticing as she did that they weren't dissolving back into shadow creatures like they should have. None of them were. 'This isn't good.' Then she caught sight of Nathanael, swinging a shadow creature around and slamming it into another way like it weighed about as much as a pillow. 'He's pretty good, though.'

'Just wait until he gets mad. then you'll really see some fighting,' Pollen said. 'I doubt that he'll ever be able to transform, though. He's too different from his kwami.'

Queen Bee didn't ask her what she meant. She would have, but that was when she noticed that none of the shadow creatures were trying to bite her. Or him. They weren't biting, possibly because Papillion had learned his lesson from last time and didn't want them to get back to him.

'Well, there goes that plan,' Queen Bee said. 'What do we do now? I mean, the only ones who know where Papillion is are the vampires, and if they're not going to go back there then the only way we could find out where he lives is if... If we could read their minds.'

'You're not offering to read their minds, are you?' Pollen asked. "You're still having a hard time from the last time you...'

'That was a bunch of vampires. This time is just going to be one.' She scanned the shadow creatures around her, hoping she could one that wasn't a kid. 'And if Papillion didn't want us to take this fight to his doorstep, he shouldn't have taken Rena Rogue, and he really shouldn't have hurt Nathanael. Now, there isn't a wall he can hide behind that will keep him safe from me.'

'Chloe, this isn't going to...'

"Hey!" Queen Bee yelled, drawing the attention of a large number of shadow creatures. 'You guys know where Papillion is, right? I know you can't tell me or show me. He controls your actions and you can't speak. But I also know that he doesn't control your thoughts. I've heard you screaming for him to stop. So I'm going to ask you to think about where we can find him. Give us a chance to take this guy down. I promise we'll do everything we can to save you, just tell me where Papillion is."

She raised her hands and sent out a single stinger at a single vampire, bracing herself for more screaming.

But no screaming came. Instead, a single, quiet sentence crossed her mind.

An address.

Queen Bee opened her eyes. "Thank you," she said to the shadow creature. "We'll stop him. I promise. We'll get you free."

She shot through the shadow creatures until she got to Nathanael. "We need to go find..." she started to say.

But then she got caught off-guard by a shadow creature grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the wall.

"Queen Bee!" Nathanael cried out. He tried to get to her, but he was being swarmed by too many shadow creatures to get close.

Queen Bee looked up at the shadow vampire holding her, grabbing its arm with both hands. Her eyes went wide. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. She knew that this creature was the one who had changed her.

Now it was snarling at her, teeth bared like it was going to bite her again. Rage welled up inside her, drowning out any fear she might have been feeling.

"Oh, you want to play a biting game?" Queen Bee snapped, completely ignoring the fact that it probably didn't want to bite her today since none of them seemed to. "Fine! I'll play a biting game."

She wriggled in the creature's hold, until she finally got into a position where she could sink her teeth into its hand.

Queen Bee didn't know what she'd been expecting. For the creature to roar in pain? Yank its hand away, look at her in disgust, and wipe the saliva off?

She was not expecting the creature to start dissolving, black smoke bleeding into the air, until all that was left was a woman even shorter than Queen Bee was.

The woman collapsed to her knees as Queen Bee stared at her in shock.

'Wha... what? How...?' Queen Bee wondered.

Pollen sounded just as surprised when she answered. 'I'm not really sure. I would guess that it's because you're partially a shadow vampire. A were's bite always has some kind of healing power. Maybe being a vampire made it so the were side of you could... figure out how to cure them.'

'Because I'm a vampire and a were...' Queen Bee thought.

She turned her head and looked straight at Nathanael. "Nathanael! Bite them!"

Nathanael stared at her like she'd just said something weird. "What?"

"Bite them! Bite them all!"

Nathanael continued to stare at her for second longer. Then a shadow creature slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

"Nathanael!" Queen Bee screamed.

She couldn't see him now. She started to fight her way toward him, biting another shadow creature as she went, when suddenly another one grabbed her arm. Queen Bee was about to kick it away when she saw a flash of red on the ground. She looked down just in time to see Nathanael sink his teeth into the creature's leg.

And then the creature was dissolving into smoke.

Nathanael pushed himself off the ground. "We still have to get to Ladybug, right?"

Queen Bee nodded. "Yeah. We should..." She turned as she spoke, trying to figure out where Ladybug might be, but then her eyes fell on the first vampire she'd turned back and she stopped talking.

The woman was just kneeling on the ground. The creatures were ignoring her entirely, obviously not interested in attacking a civilian. And the woman ignored them too, not seeming to care that she was surrounded by monsters. She turned her head slightly, eyes meeting Queen Bee's like she'd been able to feel her looking. The look in the woman's was both familiar and not in a way that sent a shiver down Queen Bee's spine. She was....

'Traumatized,' Pollen said quietly, finishing Queen Bee's thought for her. 'Are you really surprised? After everything she must have gone through.'

Queen Bee stared at her, barely even noticing Nathanael yelping as he knocked a shadow creature away from Queen Bee. Maybe she'd saved Nathanael, but there were so many people around her she hadn't been able to save. And even though she could free them now, it wouldn't change what Papillion had done to them. It wouldn't erase the memories of everything that had happened to them, memories that would probably follow them like ghosts for years to come. Maybe for the rest of theirs.

Queen Bee felt sick to her stomach. 'Papillion has to pay for what he's done.'

Nathanael bit another one, and the shadow creature burned away to reveal a child, sobbing silently on the ground.

And just like that, the sick feeling in Queen Bee's stomach was gone, replaced with a burning feeling that Queen Bee didn't bother to name.

Papillion was going to pay. And if the other heroes couldn’t make him pay through their nicer methods, than it was a good thing that not nice had always been her specialty.

She whirled, grabbing the nearest shadow vampire and sinking her teeth into it before Papillion could make it do anything else.  
Then bright red chains rose above the buildings, and suddenly it was raining shadow creatures.

"That must be where Ladybug is," Queen Bee said. "I'm guessing the others are there too." She looked at Nathanael. "We should go meet up with them." She paused. "Well, actually, you should probably stay around the corner from them so I don't have to explain why a civilian is with me and you don't lose your secret identity, but we should head in that direction."

She didn't wait for Nathanael to respond. She shot into the sky, heading toward where the chains had come from. Nathanael wouldn't be far behind her, not with his new speed.

 

Queen Bee hadn’t realized how angry she was until she saw how the other heroes reacted to her, until she saw how intimidated Carapace was and how worried Chat and Ladybug were.

Oops.

The other heroes disappeared into the sky. A vampire swung a fist at her face, and Queen Bee dodged it, grabbing its arm and sinking her teeth in, moving on as smoke bled into the sky, revealing a man.

She'd cured five others before a couple of thoughts occurred to her.

One was the realization that if Papillion was controlling each vampire individually, a normal attack would probably give him a massive headache and an attack like this would make his brain explode.

Which meant that he must just give them orders they then had to follow. His orders had to be to attack the heroes, which would explain why they were ignoring the cured civilians. It also explained why the creatures weren't trying to avoid her bite. Papillion hadn't told them to avoid being cured.

The next thought was that Nathanael should have been here by now.

'Yeah, that's weird,' Pollen agreed. 'You probably should have grabbed him, airhead. And if you cure enough of these guys, Papillion will probably notice.'

'Good.'

She cured two more before Nathanael came running into view, panting hard, giving any creature that attacked him an unimpressed look before he knocked him out of the way.

"Didn't.... get... super... speed," he gasped by way of explanation.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Queen Bee said, biting another vampire. Nathanael followed suit, and twin columns of smoke rose into the sky.

More creatures attacked them and Queen Bee bit another one.

That must have been the straw that broke the camel's back, because suddenly the entire group of vampires turned tail and ran away, fleeing in the direction of Papillion's hiding place.

"Oh, come on, Papillion!" Queen Bee yelled. "Let your army fight us! Lose your soldiers like a man!"

Nathanael's head snapped in her direction, staring at her with wide eyes.

Queen Bee grabbed him, lifting him off the ground in a princess hold. "Hey!" Nathanael yelped. "What are you..?"

"Getting us there faster," Queen Bee said, shooting into the sky and flying toward Papillion's evil lair.

The vampire guards surrounding the building didn't surprise her. The giant hole in the roof did.

"Well, I guess that was their entrance," Queen Bee said.

She looked down at the approaching army, still running madly for the building. She landed on the ground, but the shadow creatures didn't seem to care that she was now in their way.

"They're not running from us," Nathanael said.

Queen Bee shook her head. "They must be falling back to help Papillion. Probably means Spots and Noir found him."

The creatures parted around them, heading toward the building.

"What do we do?" Nathanael asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

Queen Bee thought for a second. On the one hand, Papillion needed to pay for everything he'd done. On the other hand... She took a deep breath. "Red takes priority. We make sure that she's safe. Then we find Ladybug and Chat, make sure the vampires give them enough space for them to take down Papillion. And if that doesn't work, then I'm gonna take him out."

Nathanael sighed heavily. "No, you're not," he said, so quietly she wasn't sure if he meant for her to hear. "You can't even make yourself say the word. You're not going to be able to do it."

Queen Bee elected to ignore him because he obviously had no idea what he was taking about. She grabbed his wrist and followed the shadow creatures in, pulling Nathanael behind her. "And also, while we do all these things, you should do your best to stay out of the other heroes sights. Ladybug is not going to be happy if you blow your secret identity before you even learn how to transform. I mean, Carapace could learn your identity and it would be fine, but other than that..."

They ran inside the building and she stopped talking to look up at the giant hole in the ceiling as she kept running, heading the same direction the shadow creatures were going, down hallways and around corners.

Then the vampires all leapt up, toward the ceiling, and turned into darkness and disappeared.

Queen Bee stopped running. "What the...? Where are they going?"

Nathanael shrugged. "I don't know, but didn't you say we should find Red first?"

Queen Bee nodded, snapping herself out of her thoughts. "Right." She walked forward a few steps, where another hallway met up with the one they were in. She could see doors everywhere, all unguarded, no shadow creatures in sight. "I don't exactly know where to start though, so..." she continued, turning to look at Nathanael. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

Nathanael stared at her for a second and then glanced behind him. He yelped loudly when he saw Papillion flying toward them, butterfly wings flapping madly as he shot forward like a rocket, obviously being propelled by his own evilness. Because no way were butterfly wings capable of moving that fast.

Queen Bee created her knives, bracing herself for a fight as Papillion slowed down and landed just a few feet away from them. "Looks like we'll have to change our plans."

"Will you?" Papillion asked coldly. "I won't have to change mine." His eyes flicked over to Nathanael. "Much. Wasn't expecting you to bring a random civilian with you."

'Chloe, his identity,' Pollen started to say, but Queen Bee had already seen the problem.

She frowned at Papillion. "What are you talking about? He was here when I got here."

"Was he?" Papillion asked, tilting his head and studying Nathanael for a moment. "I see." He turned back to Queen Bee. "You know, you could join us. Unite with us, fight against the other heroes, be a villain. I've seen how you work. It would suit you better anyway, being with us instead of those ridiculous goody two shoes you pretend you belong with. And you could save yourself a lot of pain. Otherwise, you'll just have to fight Le Paon again. Is that really what you want?"

His voice was full of a mocking arrogance, like he knew exactly how many of her nightmares the peacock had starred in.

Queen Bee's hands tightened around the handles of her daggers. "No, it’s not." He smiled a slight but triumphant smile. "What I want is for you to leave my city alone, either by fleeing or spontaneous combustion, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So I guess I'll have to get my hands dirty."

She lunged for him, but he stepped around her like she didn't even matter. He raised one hand, and released a single, dark butterfly that went right for Nathanael.

Nathanael threw his hands in front of his face, flinching as the butterfly flew into him, his skin turning blue.

Queen Bee let out a yell of rage. "Papillion! You coward! Fight me yourself!"

He sneered at her. "I am called the Lord of Shadows, and I'm afraid I have more important things to do with my time."

He turned and started to fly away as Nathanael leapt at Queen Bee.

Queen Bee ducked and slipped past him, letting her rage fuel her actions as she raised her hands, both of her weapons fusing into one long, spinning spear, blazing with yellow light. She threw it at Papillion.

He saw it spiraling toward him and his eyes widened in fear Queen Bee had never expected to see on his face. He shot directly upwards, crashing through the ceiling as the spear sailed through where he had just been.

Queen Bee would have followed him, but she got distracted by Nathanael attacking her.

She backed away from him. "Nathanael, stop it!"

'I've never seen him use so much power to possess a single person before,' Pollen said. 'I don't think he's going to be able to fight through it. I guess we should be grateful that he didn't get a shadow creature's speed.'

Nathanael threw a punch directly at Queen Bee's face. She ducked, and his fist sailed into the wall, which shattered like it had the same approximate hardness as a tortilla chip.

'Yeah, well, I'd be a lot more grateful if he hadn't gotten their strength!'

'Yeah that's not great,' Pollen admitted. 'I'd suggest not letting him catch you.'

'Really? You think?'

Nathanael lunged at Queen Bee, and she dropped to the ground, using her legs to help Nathanael over her, sending him crashing straight through a wall.

"Queen Bee!"

Queen Bee turned her head at the sound of her name, looking at Chat Noir as he and Ladybug came running after her. She pointed up at the hole in the ceiling. "Papillion!"

Ladybug nodded quickly, grabbing Chat Noir's hand and shooting into the air, disappearing with him through the hole.

Nathanael climbed out of his hole, glaring at Queen Bee and making a disturbing, low sound deep in his throat.

"Oh, come on!" Queen Bee complained. "Just snap out of it already!"

'I already told you he can't,' Pollen said. 'Papillion...'

Queen Bee didn't pay attention to the rest of the sentence. She was too focused on dodging out of Nathanael's way. He seemed to be trying to grab her throat, snarling and bearing fangs that had Queen Bee flashing back to that night so long ago, when she'd ran away from a shadow creature in the pouring rain.

So much had changed since then, but suddenly Queen Bee found herself feeling the same way she had back then. Alone and afraid, wondering who would miss Chloe Bourgeois if she were gone.

Nathanael made that terrifying sound again, looking at her with eyes a dark blue instead of his normal turquoise.

“You cared,” Queen Bee murmured, dodging him again. “Even back then. Even before we were friends.”

Nathanael snarled at her again. But she could see it in his eyes, a desperate plea for her to stop him from doing things he didn’t want to be doing, because he couldn’t stop himself. Her saving grace was that she was more than capable of defending herself. But maybe that wasn’t her saving grace at all.

And just like that, Chloe Bourgeois had a plan.

'No!' Pollen snapped. "Chloe, no! That is the stupidest idea you have ever had!'

Queen Bee ran away from Nathanael down the other hallway, rounding the corner, out of sight as fast as her legs could carry her.

Then she dropped her transformation.

'Oh, you airhead! Don't you ever listen?'

'I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Did you tell me not to do something?'

'I'm in your head, Chloe! You can literally always hear me!'

Nathanael ran around the corner, looking murderous. He saw Chloe and moved towards her.

'You idiot! You're not going to be able to defend yourself!'

'That would be the point,' Chloe said. She looked at Nathanael. "Nathanael," she gasped, her voice full of very fake surprise and much less fake fear.

Nathanael raised a hand, snarling at her, and Chloe threw her arms up automatically to protect her face.

Nathanael's fist froze less than an inch away from her, his eyes going very wide and very purple. "I don't want to..." he gasped, his arm shaking like it was taking all of his concentration to hold it still. "I don't want to..."

His whole body was suddenly illuminated with purple light, the blue draining out of his skin and hair, the purple fading from his eyes. Turquoise eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed.

Chloe caught him before he could hit the ground and lowered him down carefully. 'What.. What just happened?'

'Nooroo,' Pollen said, her voice heartbroken, emanating enough pain Chloe found herself gasping in surprise, blinking away tears. 'This is not how his powers are supposed to work. These are not the changes his powers are supposed to make. They don't have reflections because he can't accept what he's being forced to do. And this time, it looks like he found a way not to to do it at all.'

Chloe didn't get a chance to respond before she heard the footsteps.

She turned around and found herself looking into the peacock-blue eyes of Lila Rossi.

Lila stared at her in obvious shock. “You? What are you doing here?”

The first thing that came to Chloe's mind was that she’d been on a school field trip and gotten lost. Unfortunately, she didn’t think that was going to fool Lila.

Lila the liar. Chloe doubted anything she was going to say was going to fool the queen of lies herself. Chloe could certainly match her for meanness, but for deception? Not so much.

Besides, she didn’t want to protect her identity. Memories of Lila and Rena Rogue disappearing in a cloud of feathers flashed through her mind, and all she wanted to do was make Lila pay.

Chloe pushed herself to her feet, brushed her knees off, and transformed.

Lila’s eyes grew huge “You’re… But..”

Queen Bee grinned at her. “Hey, ugly.”

She raised a hand and shot a stinger at Lila. An image filled her head, a memory from Lila, of Rena Rogue bleeding orange light until Alya Cesaire stood in her place.

“Stop that!” Lila snapped. She created two fans and sent them both flying toward Queen Bee at a downward angle, so that if she dodged, Nathanael would be the one to take the hit.

Queen Bee's blood boiled. Why couldn’t everyone just leave Nathanael alone?

She let the anger take over, moving without really thinking, reaching out with both hands and catching the fans.

For a second, she waited for them to burn or sting against her skin. Then she remembered.

The gloves.

Queen Bee felt like an idiot. That was why they wore them, everyone but Carapace. So that they could touch each other's weapons without it burning the skin.

Of course she could touch the fans. Of course she could catch them and not just dodged them.

Lila looked at her with wide eyes. Queen Bee grinned at her and threw the fans right back toward her.

Lila shrieked and ducked, the fans slicing through where her face had been.

Queen Bee remembered the fans curving around and coming back to Bird Brain, but they didn’t come back to her, and they didn’t come back to Lila. Maybe the hallway was too narrow for that to work.

Or maybe Lila just sucked.

Lila stood and fell back a step, and Queen Bee noticed what she hadn’t before. Lila was shaking, unsteady on her feet. Already exhausted, already weak.

And that was good, because Queen Bee was starting to feel pretty worn out.

“Red put up more of a fight than you thought she would, huh?” Queen Bee asked.

Lila scowled. “She’s tougher than I expected, but it doesn’t matter. We're still going to win.”

Queen Bee rolled her eyes. “Please. Chat Noir and Ladybug already had Papillion running away.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Lila said. “He’s leading them into a trap.”

“Even if you’re not lying, you really think that possibility won’t occur to Ladybug?” Queen Bee asked. “Don’t you be an idiot?”

“She’s not that smart,” Lila snarled.

Queen Bee moved toward her. Lila stumbled away from her. “Hate to burst your bubble, but someone not liking you doesn’t make them stupid.”

Lila smiled the fakest smile Queen Bee had ever seen. “It doesn’t matter. I know who Rena Rogue is now, and who you are. It’s only a matter of time before we win, even if you all get lucky and escape this time.”

Queen Bee raised her hand and concentrated, her hand starting to glow with a familiar light. “You’re not going to know for long.”

Lila clenched her fists. Feathers started to fly around her, moving at a sluggish, faltering pace. She must be really exhausted if it was taking so long for her to teleport, but she was still going to disappear too fast. “You don’t have time to erase my memories of an identity.”

“You’re wrong,” Queen Bee said, pouring all of her energy into the stinger she was making. “I just don’t have time to erase your memory of two.”

She fired the stinger. It slammed into Lila just before she disappeared.

Queen Bee took a deep breath, looking down at her shaking hands. She let herself rest for a moment. Then she turned and walked back to Nathanael.

She grabbed his feet and pulled him into a nearby empty room. “He should be safe enough there,” she muttered to herself, pulling the door closed. “Now we just need to find…”

She was interrupted by the sound of a flute playing.

“Ooh. Perfect timing.”

Queen Bee ran toward the sound. It didn’t take too long for her to get to the hallway where Rena Rogue was with Carapace, though she was far enough away they didn’t notice her.

Rena Rogue was limp in Carapace's arms. He looked panicked.

All around them were vampires, lying motionless on the floor. Queen Bee hadn’t know that unconscious was a thing that vampires could be, but apparently it was.

Queen Bee started to walk toward the two heroes, opening her mouth to call out to them, but Carapace started glowing and she stopped.

The glow flowed into Rena Rogue and she gasped, her eyes flying open. “Lila… knows.. who… I am,” she gasped out desperately.

“About that,” Queen Bee said. Carapace and Rena Rogue both turned their heads, obviously startled by her presence. “I kind of ran into Lila in the hall. We had a very polite conversation, and now she has no idea who you are.”

'Are you going to tell them the other half of that story?' Pollen asked.

Rena Rogue pushed herself out of Carapace's arms, wobbling slightly. Then she ran to Queen Bee, throwing her arms around her in a tight hug that Queen Bee found surprising but not unpleasant. She wrapped her arms around Rena Rogue and hugged her back. “I’m glad you’re okay, Red.”

'Apparently not,' Pollen muttered.

After a moment, Queen Bee pulled away from Rena Rogue and looked at Carapace and then back at Rena Rogue. “We should go,” she said. “I’m pretty sure that Ladybug and Chat Noir just ran into a trap.”


	27. Queen Bee

Queen Bee ran down the hallway, Carapace and Rena Rouge running after her at a more sluggish pace, Carapace's arm around Rena Rouge's waist, supporting most of her weight.

She headed back to the hole in the ceiling. She assumed that Papillion had kept heading the way he'd been going before he flew through the ceiling to avoid her spear.

But when she stopped under the hole, waiting for Carapace and Rena Rouge to catch up, she realized she didn't have to assume. 

She didn't have to assume, because she could smell it.

Blood.

She could hear it too, pulsing out of a wound, falling to the ground. Her senses all tunnelled, focusing in on that one point. There wasn't enough of it to be a lethal wound, but there was enough for it to be a bad one.

She inhaled deeply, her nose filling with the smell of blood.

"Chat Noir," Queen Bee murmured to herself, almost in a trance. 

"What did you say?" A voice said, startling her out of her reverie.

Queen Bee blinked, jerking her head sideways to find Carapace looking at her curiously. Rena Rouge looked too tired to be curious, drooping into Carapace's shoulder like she was about to faint. She was better than she had been before Carapace's glowy trick, but she still seemed pretty weak, and she seemed to be getting weaker by the second.

"Red, I hate to say this, but maybe you shouldn't..." Queen Bee started.

Rena Rouge cut her off with a voice that held none of the exhaustion or weakness that seemed to be effecting her body. "I am not staying behind," she said sharply.

Queen Bee pursed her lips. "You're in no condition to fight."

"And we don't have time to argue," Rena Rouge snapped.

Queen Bee scowled at her. "And if you can't defend yourself, Carapace will be stuck defending you, and that makes it more likely that someone else will get hurt. You know, like Ladybug."

Rena Rouge set her jaw. "Just take us there already."

Queen Bee looked at Carapace. He met her gaze and nodded, not seeming to be filled with the worry she was. Or at least, not much.

Queen Bee let out an exasperated growl, but she moved in between them, grabbing each of them around the middle. She shot up, carrying them up through the hole and landing on the floor as gently as she could, for Rena Rouge's sake.

She let go of them both, and Carapace immediately moved as Rena Rouge wobbled, catching her before she could fall. He still didn't seem worried.

Queen Bee turned and inhaled again, the smell of blood filling her lungs. There was more of it now, which meant that Ladybug hadn't healed him. That couldn't be a good sign.

"This way," Queen Bee said. She started walking, Rena Rouge and Carapace following her. "We should probably have some kind of a plan for when we get there."

"Carapace breaks down the door." Rena Rouge sounded like she'd been waiting for someone to say that. "I'll create illusions while Carapace watches my back. You create as much chaos as you can. We'll try and distract the shadow creatures, free Ladybug and Chat Noir up to attack Papillion. Ladybug can take the planning from there."

Queen Bee nodded slowly. She wondered if she should tell them Chat Noir was hurt, but she didn't know how to explain to them how she knew that. She could hardly tell them she was part vampire, and she definitely couldn't tell them that it had gotten a lot worse since she'd psuhed herself as far over the vampire line as she could to save Nathanael.

It had woken something up inside of her, something dark that kept threatening to swallow her up.

She'd thought it was just anger, before. Right up until she smelled Chat Noir's blood, and she realized it was something much worse.

"Queen Bee?" Carapace asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay with that plan?"

"It's fine." It came out more snappish than she meant for it to, something she didn't usually have to worry about  as Queen Bee. "We don't know what we're going into and we don't have time to keep thinking about it, so it's as good as we can do."

The smell of blood got stronger. Queen Bee turned down another hallway, heading to the room the smell was coming from.

She stopped a little ways ahead of it and pointed at the door.

She didn't have to say anything. Carapace started to raise his hand and she shot off the ground, hurtling toward the door.

Carapace's shell got there right before she did, taking it out just a split second before she hurtled into the room.

She slammed immediately into a couple of shadow creatures, knocking them hard to the ground before she stopped to get her bearings.

She'd been terrified about what she would see. About what condition Chat Noir and even Ladybug would be in when she got there. Would they be weak like Rena Rogue was? Would they be unconscious? Or would something even worse have happened to them?

But they were both conscious, both on thier feet, both fighting hard. They stood back to back, chains and staff moving with enough speed that the couple dozen shadow creatures surrounding them couldn't get close. That was the good news.

The bad news was that the shadow creatures were not the only other beings in the room. Papillion was off the side, panting hard, and favoring one leg. He'd obviously fought them himself at one point, but at the moment he just seemed to be observing.

He could afford it because also in the room was a were-peacock.

It took a second for Queen Bee to realize that the peacock wasn't Lila.

It was Le Paon.

She threw her fans, and Queen Bee realized that Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't standing back to back because they couldn't take on that many vampires at once. They were doing it to stop Le Paon's fans from slicing them up.

Queen Bee glanced quickly sideways.  She noticed the pain on Chat Noir's face, the cut on his thigh that could only have been done by one of Le Paon's fans. She noticed the tight expression, the badly masked fear on Ladybug's face that told her Ladybug knew Chat Noir was hurt, and simply couldn't do anything about it without dropping her guard, and since he'd certainly take any blow meant for her, that would only get him more hurt.

Queen Bee felt rage rising inside her, every muscle in her body tensing, her lips pulling back from her teeth in a way that probably would've been terrifying if she'd had Chloe's fangs but probably weren't at all scary with Queen Bee's teeth.

It wasn't the plan, but Queen Bee did it anyway, moving at her fastest speed toward the fans, catching one in each hand. She threw one of them directly into another fan, knocking it away from Ladybug.

The other she hurled directly at Le Paon's head.

Le Paon waved one hand, and the fan disappeared right before it reached her. "Finally learned how to use your speed and gloves to your advantage, did you?" She sounded amused by the thought.

Queen Bee held out her hands, creating daggers and wrapping her hands around the handles. "Not the only trick I've learned. I'd say it's time for a rematch." She hoped she didn't sound as scared as she felt.

She wasn't stupid. She knew she couldn't hold her own in a fight against Le Paon, but hopefully she didn't have to. No matter how powerful Le Paon was, she could only attack the city with the force of one person. Papillion could attack with the force of a hundred. He was the one Ladybug and Chat Noir needed to stop, which meant that all she had to do was distract Le Paon long enough for that to happen, and hope that Carapace and Rena Rogue could keep the vampires busy enough for them to take Papillion down.

Le Paon smiled, and shivers ran down Queen Bee's spine. Le Paon raised her hands, fans forming in them, and sent them flying toward Queen Bee.

They were moving a lot faster than than they did when Lila threw them, and unlike they had been a moment ago, they were focused on her now.

Queen Bee dodged the first two fans, threw one of her knives at another, causing both weapons to shatter, and threw the other weapon at Le Paon. Le Paon leaned slightly sideways to avoid it.

Queen Bee hurled another dagger at her. She didn't get to see if it hit because she had to dodge another fan, but she assumed it hadn't.

She wasn't doing too badly, but more fans were coming at her, and the first two were coming back. There was no way she was going to be able to dodge them all.

She braced herself to get sliced, trying to keep her wings out of the way, since the only real advantage she had over Le Paon was the fact that she could fly, and Le Paon's Wong's looked like they were mostly ornamental.

But as soon as one of the fans got close to her, she saw a flash of green out of the corner of her eye. A shield, flying through the air, curving in an arc at exactly the right time for each fan to hit it, the fans exploding into feathers the moment they touched it.

Carapace stepped beside Queen Bee, looking equal parts scared and determined. He held out his hand and the shield curved back to fly to him, the same way Le Paon's fans did.

Queen Bee vaguely noticed the sound of a flute being played, vaguely noticed white smoke curving around the room, brushing against shadow creatures, causing them to collapse each time they touched one.

But most of her attention stayed focused on Le Paon, on the way her eyes locked on Carapace, her smiling widening just slightly.

"The were-turtle. The protector." She was practically purring. "Are you here to tell me that I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing? Forcing them to do what I want? Are you here to tell me I'm being mean?"

"No, I'm not," Carapace said flatly. "I'm here to tell you that you can either let them go, or we can make you. Those are the options here."

He didn't sound like he was even trying to be threatening, which was probably why it was actually kind of intimidating. Queen Bee thought so, at least, though not on the same level as Papillion, and certainly not as Le Paon.

Le Paon's smile widened more. She created another fan like she was about to hurl it at them, but then chaos broke out, drawing all three of their attention to the other side of the room.

Ladybug and Chat Noir broke through the shadow creatures still on their feet. They lunged at Papillion, who fell back from them with a loud yell.

Instantly, all the vampires turned away from Rena Rouge, away from her smoke, moving toward Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Rena Rogue's eyes narrowed, and her smoke changed directions, curling and bending like a snake, moving toward Le Paon.

Le Paon turned her head as the smoke approached her. Just before it touched her, she raised her arm, the fan in her hand getting bigger. She waved the fan, and a breeze came out of nowhere, blowing the smoke away from her.

Queen Bee moved before Le Paon could turn her head back, throwing two daggers directly at her.

Le Paon moved her hand without moving her head, using her fan to block Queen Bee's daggers. The fan shattered, but so did the daggers.

The smoke flew back toward her. She shot forward at the last second to avoid the smoke. She was surprisingly fast, but not as fast as Queen Bee.

Queen Bee barrelled toward her, hurling daggers as she went. Le Paon dodged them and threw a couple fans in response.

Queen Bee dodged them and kept moving forward, launching a kick at her fastest speed at Le Paon's chest, trying to kick her back into the smoke.

She was moving too fast for Le Paon to evade her, and she thought she had her.

But right before she hit her, Le Paon disappeared into a cloud of feathers.

And a second later, something slammed into Queen Bee's back, pushing her toward the smoke.

She shot into the air to evade the smoke, even though the smoke was bending away from her. She spun in the air as she flew, looking for Le Paon, but she saw her fans first, flying right toward her.

Queen Bee growled in frustration and shot forward, taking a kamikaze dive at one of the fans. At the last second,  she swung sideways, dodging the sharp edge of the fan and grabbing it from the other side. She landed on the ground, eyes locked on the other fan. It swung back toward her, and she threw the other fan, sending both of them flying away from her.

She spun in another quick circle, scanning the room until she saw Le Paon.

Le Paon was standing where she'd almost knocked Queen Bee into the smoke. She'd created another fan, and as Queen Bee watched, she waved it in the air, blowing the smoke away from her again.

The smoke vanished as Rena Rouge stopped playing, the flute disappearing. She put her hands on her knees and gasped for breath. She looked exhausted.

Le Paon looked at her. "I'm surprised you came back to fight us. Haven't learned your lesson, have you?"

She raised her left hand, her right hand still gripping the fan. She opened her left hand just a little, and something dropped down, something orange and white and dangling on a chain.

"No!" Rena Rouge's scream was raw and full of horror, and Queen Bee didn't bother trying to figure out why that small object scared her so much.

She just reacted, throwing a dagger at Le Paon's hand to try and force her to drop it.

Le Paon dodged Queen Bee's daggers easily, but most sooner had she moved her hand out of the path of the dagger then something else hit it, knocking the small orange thing out of her hand.

The thing fell toward the ground, but the same object that had slammed it of her grasp swerved back with lightning speed to catch it in a blur of green.

The blur shot away from Le Paon before she had time to react, flying back toward Carapace.

The shield disappeared, the small object dropping into Carapace's open hand.

Rena Rouge collapsed in relief. Le Paon's eyes turned on Carapace. She moved toward him, walking at a casual pace like she had all the time in the world.

Queen Bee shot forward, even though she knew nothing would stop Le Paon from simply teleporting to Carapace as soon as Queen Bee got close.

Carapace must have had the same thought, because the moment Le Paon took a step toward him, he let out a high pitched yelp and took several panicked steps backwards, glancing around desperately like he was trying to watch all directions at once.

Queen Bee lunged at Le Paon, fully expecting her to teleport away, but this time, Le Paon stayed right where she was.

Queen Bee was faster than Le Paon. She knew she was. But this time, that didn't seem to matter much.

Queen Bee slammed into her, but Le Paon moved with her, absorbing the shock, stepping backward, kicking Queen Bee hard enough in the stomach that Queen Bee stumbled backwards and fell, hitting the floor hard, the wind knocked out of her.

She gasped, distracted for just a minute before she pushed herself back off the ground, turning to find Le Paon.

Le Paon stepped up closer to Carapace, and Carapace threw a shield up around himself. The shield was light enough that it could be seen through, probably so he could keep his eyes on Le Paon. But Queen Bee was sure that it was still tough enough to take quite a few hits- even from a sharp fan- before it broke.

Le Paon smiled, seeming almost amused by the shield. Feathers swarmed around her and she disappeared, only to reappear inside Carapace's shield. Carapace stumbled backward at her sudden appearance and tripped, falling to the ground.

"No," Queen Bee breathed, horror welling up inside of her. She glanced sideways at Rena Rouge, who had gone as pale as a sheet, her eyes locked on Carapace, or possibly on the object in his hand.

Queen Bee turned her head back toward Carapace, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to see what happened next.

Carapace seemed to be frozen with fear, his eyes wide, every muscle locked in place. "You... How did you..."

Le Paon smiled. "I thought so," she said smugly. She bent down to get closer to Carapace, a smile flickering in her face. "You have something that belongs to me." Queen Bee could hear her voice through the shiled, though it was muffled and distorted. "You can either give it back to me, or I can make you. Those are the options here."

Carapace looked like he was about to pass out from fright. He glanced sideways, his panicked gaze landing on Queen Bee.

He opened his free hand, and the shield collapsed.

So that they could help him, Queen Bee realized.

She moved toward them. Le Paon gave her a bored look out of the corner of her eye and uttered a single, quiet word. "Papillion."

Queen Bee barely had time to take another step before she heard something behind her. She turned automatically, just in time to see a vampire flying at her with blinding speed.

Queen Bee shot into the air, but she barely got off the ground before the shadow creature slammed into her. It grabbed her by the arms and dragged her back to the ground, it's claws ripping through her gloves and cutting into her skin. Queen Bee struggled against it, but she couldn't break free.

Le Paon met her eyes. "Not very clever of you, letting one of the shadows bite you, now was it?"

She turned back toward Carapace. Rena Rouge made a quiet sound of protest, but she didn't have the strength to fight Le Paon, and Queen Bee knew it.

Fury and darkness rose up inside of her, and Queen Bee's hands clenched, and claws dug into her skin.

She gasped in pain and unclenched her fists, looking down at the blood dripping from her palms, the claws breaking through her gloves.

Almost hesitantly, Queen Bee opened her mouth just enough to run her tongue across her teeth.

Not her teeth. Her fangs.

Le Paon pried the small object out of Carapace's fingers. She turned toward Rena Rouge, her eyes filull of triumph.

And Queen Bee stopped fighting the darkness, embracing it with the smell zeal as she had when she saved Nathanael.

A growl rose in her throat, a low, feral sound that froze Le Paon in her tracks. She looked at Queen Bee, her eyes wide, but it was clear that she recognized the sound. "I think you're the one that's not very clever," Queen Bee spat at her.

Then she twisted, grabbing the shadow creatures arm and sinking her teeth into it.

Black smoke bled off of the creature, until all that was left was a man, shaking as he fell to his knees.

The entire room froze. The shadow vampires stopped moving. Papillion, Ladybug, and Chat Noir stopped fighting as well, for a second, thier eyes on her. Everyone seemed to be stunned.

Queen Bee turned her eyes back to Le Paon, focusing all her attention on her.

Le Paon's eyes were even wider now. "How did you...?" She started to say, her voice cold and hard and cutting.

Queen Bee smiled widely, bearing her fangs. "Like you said." She glanced down at her own arms for a second, watched the exposed skin turn purple, getting darker by the second. "I did let a shadow creature bite me."

'Chloe!" Pollen's voice was too faint in Queen Bee's head, faint and nothing short of distraught. 'Chloe, you can't go dark like this. Not as a were. You might not be able to come back.'

But Queen Bee's skin kept getting darker, until it was only a little lighter than a shadow creatures, and after a moment, she couldn't hear Pollen's voice anymore.

And a moment after that, Queen Bee didn't care about that anymore. She didn't need Pollen's help.

She just needed blood. Blood, and death, and destruction, and Pollen would only get in her way.

She looked around, at the shadow vampires all around her. Now, they could help her get what she needed.

She raised her hands, creating dozens of stingers made of purple light.

She looked at the shadow creatures and spoke loud, to be sure that they could all hear her. "Now, I understand that you're in pain, but I need you to focus. No screaming. Think about getting your revenge, and then we will all get it."

"Queen Bee!" Chat Noir's voice sounded as upset as Pollen had, but Queen Bee didn't have time to think about why he was upset.

She looked across the room, at Papillion. "You made a swarm with the power of change. Congratulations. If only you had been smart enough to run when a Queen Bee showed up." She fired the stingers, sending them into every shadow creature in the room.

Then she turned back to Le Paon, and all the shadow creatures turned with her.

She could feel their fury in her mind, thier rage and their pain and their hatred, pushing her further into the darkness, until that was all there was.

"You were willing to sacrifice us to get what you wanted," Queen Bee said, giving words to the emotions pouring into her. The shadow creatures growled with her, adding thier voices to hers even though they couldn't say the words. "Now you can be the sacrifice to put things right."

She moved, they moved, toward Le Paon in a swarm, though Queen Bee was the fastest. Carapace scrambled out of the way, running toward Rena Rouge.

Le Paon looked past Queen Bee, a the shadow creatures behind her and disappeared into feathers.

Queen Bee turned instantly, heading toward Papillion. Now that the peacock wasn't here to protect him, they finally had a chance to make him pay for everything he'd done.

Ladybug was frozen when Queen Bee passed her, sucked in to some deep thought, but Chat Noir moved like he wanted to stop her. As if he could.

Queen Bee was only a couple of feet away from Papillion when Le Paon appeared next to him. She threw her arms around him, and blue feathers started to surround them both.

Queen Bee let a scream of raw fury and hurled herself forward, crashing into the feathers just as the faded from existence.

Papillion and Le Paon were gone.

Queen Bee let out a scream of rage. Rage mixed with sadness, a sadness Queen Bee had not expected to feel. It took her a moment to realizd that the sadness was not hers, or the shadow creatures.

It was Pollen's.

Queen Bee could feel her again. And suddenly, Queen Bee could hear her too, if only faintly.

'No! No! No, we were so close! Nooroo!'

Queen Bee struggled to say something, to respond to the sadness flowing off Pollen, but she couldn't focus on it.

She couldn't focus on it because the shadow creatures no longer had a common enemy to focus on, and if they couldn't get revenge, they wanted blood.

She wanted blood.

And there were a few sources of it available.

Queen Bee turned with the shadow creatures, looking toward the sources of the blood in the room.

Her eyes landed first on Chat Noir. He met her eyes without fear but with so much sadness it almost matched what she felt from Pollen. "Ch... Queen Bee. This isn't you. Come back to us."

The shadow creatures edged toward him, desire and reluctance warring inside of them. Queen Bee's legs moved with theirs.

"How is she even doing that?" Carapace asked. He moved toward Ladybug and Char Noir, practically carrying Rena Rouge.

Rena Rouge's voice was strained when she answered him. "She can do it because right now, she is a shadow creature as much as she is a were."

Chat Noir sent her a panicked look. Queen Bee froze at his expression, and so did the shadow creatures. "Can she snap out of it? Like if she detransforms, or..."

Rena Rouge's expression was not encouraging.

Chat Noir turned desperately to Ladybug. She still looked spaced out, her eyes huge with some thought she wasn't sharing. "Ladybug, help," he pleaded. "There must be something you can do."

Ladybug blinked a few times and looked up. Her eyes met Queen Bee's, and her jaw set. "Queen Bee. Le Paon and Papillion aren't going to come back any time soon, not when they know you can control the vampires. So you can change back. You can come back to us."

Queen Bee bared her fangs and snarled at Ladybug, but her legs didn't seem to want to move forward.

The shadow creatures shifted restlessly, snarling with her, unable to move like her. She could hear their voices in her mind, an endless chant of 'hungry. Hungry. Hungry.'

The were's eyes drifted away from her, looking at the shadow creatures instead. Carapace braced himself, as if for a fight. Ladybug tensed. Chat Noir fell back a step, putting his back to Ladybug's.

Rena Rouge's went back to Queen Bee's. "None of us are in any condition to fight this many shadow creatures. You have to help us."

'Hungry,' the shadow creatures changed. Then they were moving, drawing toward the weres, Queen Bee moving with them, her eyes still on Rena Rouge.

"Come on. Remember who yuo are. Remember who we are. We're your friends, Queen Bee," Rena Rouge said, her voice so quiet Queen Bee could barely hear her.

And suddenly, looking at Rena Rouge Quee Bee didn't see Rena Rouge at all.

She saw Alya, being held up by Nino. She saw Marinette, looking at her with eyes full of confidence and trust.

She saw Adrien, full of determination to protect his Ladybug.

The shadow creatures moved toward them, and something else rose in Queen Bee. Something besides the rage and hunger and darkness.

Something that caused to stop dead in her tracks, to scream out. "No! Stop it! We are not going to hurt mu friends!" The shadow creatures kept moving. "Stop!" The scream ripped painfully out of Queen Bee's throat, and the shadow creatures froze like someone had just turned them to stone.

Queen Bee gasped desperately, putting her hands on her knees. Her hair fell over her shoulder. She looked down at her arms, at the places where her gloves had been shredded and she could see her skin. It didn't look as dark now as it had earlier, the same color as her hair.

'Come on, Chloe,' Pollen said, her voice quiet and sad and almost lifeless. 'You can do it.'

Queen Bee took a deep breath and focused, reaching through the darkness that had swallowed her. Reaching for someone inside her besides the vampire, but it was so hard to reach.

A face flashed through her mind, red hair and turqouise eyes, and the purple faded from her skin and the hair hanging beside her face.

Queen Bee straightened up and the vampires shifted slightly, her holding them starting to wear off as thier voices faded from her mind.

"Queen Bee! You're back!" The relief in Chat Noir's voice was almost palpable.

Rena Rouge smiled weakly. Beside her, Carapace frowned. "That's great," he said, his eyes on the shadow creatures. "But what are we going to do about them?"

Ladybug answered before anyone else could, her voice full of a little too much strength, so that all Queen Bee could think about was what was hiding. "We're going to heal them."

Queen Bee frowned. "I mean, I could bite them all, but none of us re exactly in great shape for a fight." She held up her hands, shaking from exhaustion. "And there are still tons of them out there."

Ladybug looked at her. "You changed that guy back. And once I saw you do it, I knew we could do it."

Queen Bee frowned. She w spretty confident that thier bites would not suddenly start changing the vampires back to humans. "We..."

"She means me and her," Char Noir cut her off. He looked at Ladybug, his expression unreadable. "All at once. We could heal the entire city. Put everything back to how it's supposed to be. No more shadow creatures."

Carapace's eyes widened. "What? But using that much power at once, there's no guarantee that you'll..." His voice trailed off.

Ladybug smiled sadly and looked at Chat Noir. "Are you with me?"

Chat Noir smiled in response, and his wasn't sad but rather blinding. "Always, my Lady."

He held out his hands. Ladybug glanced down at them, and then lunged forward, throwing her arms around him, holding him in a tight embrace.

Light swirled around them, green and red light twisting together in a perfect dance.

Carapace hauled Rena Rouge around the light, moving toward Queen Bee as the light continued to gather around them.

He reached Queen Bee's side and put his hand in her arm, green mist enveloping all three of them just as the light pulsed out away from Ladybug and Chat Noir, washing over everyone in the room.

It passed over them without doing anything. Carapace smiled apologetically. "Sorry. But what they're doing is going to use so much power, I'm not even sure they'll survive it. It's going to be close. I don't want to make it worse by making them heal us too. Not when all we need is time."

Queen Bee nodded and looked away from him, watching as the green and red light dissolved the shadow creatures, leaving only people behind.

Then the light pulsed out more, leaving the room. Queen Bee imagined it was washing over the entire city, curing any shadow creatures, fixing any possessions, healing any injuries. Putting the city back to how it was supposed to be.

Almost.

Queen Bee looked at all the people on the ground in the room. At the shattered expressions on thier faces. They were free, of Papillion's control, of vampirism, of any phsyical injury.

But it didn't matter. The real problem as in thier heads, where they were chained by thier own memories and the trauma that stemmed from it. Trauma that even Ladybug couldn't heal, memories that even Chat Noir couldn't destroy.

And as long as those memories were there, they wouldn't be okay. Paris wouldn't be okay.

The light faded away, and Chat Noir and Ladybug collapsed, thier transformations fading away.

Carapace let go of Queen Bee and threw up his hand. A green turtle shell surrounded Ladybug and Chat Noir, catching them before they hit the ground, so dark Queen Bee couldn't see through it.

The green mist faded from Queen Bee, but stayed around Carapace and Rena Rouge.

And that worked outnperfectly.

Queen Bee stepped away from Carapace. He looked at her curiously, as if wondering what she was doing.

Queen Bee's hands clenched. "Noir and Spots might not survive. They were willing to die to make sure Paris was okay, but it's not." She waved her hand at the former shadow creatures. "I'm going to finish what they started. I'm going to fix what they couldn't."

Carapace sucked in a sharp breath. He said something, but Queen Bee couldn't hear it over the sound of Pollen in her head.

'What? Chloe, no! You're too well to do something like this by yourself!'  
Pollen yelled. 'You could die, or worse...'

Queen Bee cut her off. 'It doesn't matter. You of all people should understand that. Like you said, a bee does what's best for the hive. And I know what you didn't say; they do it even if it kills them.'

'Chloe...'

'This is what's best for the hive. For Paris, and I'm going to do it. Are you with me, or not?'

Pollen was silent for a long moment. 'With you, Queen Bee. Always with you.'

Emotions poured off her, familiar but not anything that Queen Bee had never expected to feel from Pollen, at least not directed at her. It surprised her so much it took a moment for her to identify them. Affection, and pride.

'Good,' Queen Bee said. 'Because we should erase everyone's memories of meeting Papillion and his vampires and being vampires or being possessed by him to make sure no one is traumatized. And we should erase everyone's memories of anyone superhero identities they might have seen or figured out as well. To make sure everyone is safe. I'll need your help to pick out those memories and erase them. When we're done, the city should have a general memory of what Papillion did, but no reason to be particularly scared of him.'

'Well, you've got plenty of motivation backing up that decision,' Pollen said. 'Now all you need to do is focus. And brace yourself. This isn't going to be fun.'

'I know.'

Queen Bee met Carapace's eyes. "Make sure you keep the immunity up until the light fades."

His eyebrows drew together, his face pinched with worry. "Queen Bee..."

Queen Bee didn't wait for him to say anything else. She raised her hands, focusing on her determination to protect her city. She started to glow with honey gold light. It surrounded her, and it took a moment for her to realize the shape it was taking. A hive. She was being surrounded by a hive of golden light.

She took a deep breath, and let the light go. It pulsed away from her, washing over the city.

And Queen Bee's head filled with memories. Horrible memories, like they had last time she shot the shadow creatures, but this time they were so many more of them.

They filled her mind, and Queen Bee couldn't remember what she was supposed to do with them. She couldn't even tell which ones were hers and which ones were from other people.

People screamed the names of the people they loved as they died, and pretty soon she couldn't even remember which name was hers.

She was being swallowed by memories, drowning in pain and fear and anger. She gasped for breath, felt the tears coursing down her face... Or maybe it was the rain. Was it raining, or was that in her memories?

She couldn't tell. She couldn't tell anything anymore. She couldn't remember who she was, couldn't remember anything about herself.

Then a voice rang through her mind, powerful and familiar and beautiful. The voice said only two words. 'Queen Bee.'

Not words. Her name. She was Queen Bee.

And that voice... That voice was Nathanael.

'Nathanael?' Queen Bee said tentatively, hoping she wasn't imagining him, that he wasn't just another one of the flood of memories, overwhelmingly painful and impossibly numerous. Devastating memories that were overtaking her again, causing panic to rise in her...

'Queen Bee!' Nathanael's voice cut through the chaos, clearing her mind just enough for her to think. 'It's okay. I'm here. I've got you. You're not alone. I've got you.'

Queen Bee took another deep breath feeling his strength and his softness in her mind. She had this. She was going to do what she was supposed to do. She had to get rid of those memories.

The memories faded away, erased by the combined effort of Pollen and her.

More memories flooded in, too fast for her to absorb everything that happened in them, but the pain coming through just fine. She didn't know how she would have handled it if it hadn't been for Nathanael. He held on to her, not letting her drown in the memories, matching thier determination with his own. 

They were going to save Paris.

They waded through the memories, thousands of them passing through her mind in seconds.

But eventually, there were no more memories. No more deaths, no more attacks. 

Queen Bee looked around, saw the expressions of relief on the former vampires faces. They'd forgotten the pain, the trauma.

Queen Bee didn't think she'd ever be able to forget. The memories were all still there, swimming around in her head.

She took a step toward Carapace, but she didn't make it any further before everything went dark.


	28. Nathanael

Nathanael felt very strange.

Everything was dark, but his body was flooded by both warmth and cold. He felt like he was being ripped apart and pulled together at the same time, only it didn't really hurt.

He opened his eyes, feeling confused and disoriented. He didn't know where he was or exactly what he was doing.

Then his vision cleared. He saw red and green light washing over him. Healing him, he realized.

Healing him of what, though? Why was he injured?

The memories came flooding back to him all at once.

He'd chased after Chloe, trying to get her to come back inside. He was worried about her. She was only partially a vampire, and even they weren't indestructible.

The shadow creatures had emerged out of nowhere, and Chloe had turned around to go back to him, but she hadn't gotten there in time.

A shadow creature had killed him. He'd felt his life draining away.

Then he'd seen a golden light, blazing hot and blindingly bright. He'd felt strength course into him. But it was too much. He was drowning in the light, overpowered by the strength.

He'd heard Queen Bee's voice, telling him that he had to fight it, that if he could just get through it, he would be a were.

Like her.

She also threatened to bury him in something ugly, but that wasn't very helpful.

Then she threatened to burn his sketchbooks. Now that was helpful.

Nathanael didn't move away from the light. Nathanael shoved the light away from him and into oblivion. He didn't care if the light was the sun itself; it was not going to keep him away from his sketchbooks.

'Wow,' a voice in his head said, a voice that was definitely not his. It was much too deep and powerful. 'Maybe I didn't waste my Power by choosing you after all.'

He'd opened his eyes, expecting to see Chloe next to Queen Bee, but she was nowhere in sight.

Then he'd helped Queen Bee fight. Thanks to the "mental link" between them and the advice of the voice in his head- his kwami- he'd been able to read Queen Bee's mind and learn how to fight. But he'd still taken a few hits in the fight. He didn't think Queen Bee had noticed that, but it didn't stop them from hurting.

Then he'd been possessed, and no matter how hard he tried to fight it, he couldn't break free. He'd reminded himself so many times that he didn't really hate Queen Bee, that he don't want to hurt her, but then he still had tried, almost reflexively.

But then Queen Bee was gone and Chloe was there, and he knew she couldn't take a hit like Queen Bee could. He couldn't let himself hit her.

Then he'd heard a quiet, unfamiliar voice in his head, saying only a single word: no.

And he'd collapsed.

Now he was awake, and healed of all those wounds, and now the light was about to cure him of something else.

His new vampirism.

Panic rose in Nathanel. He couldn't explain why, but he couldn't lose his vampire side.

He couldn't Chloe be the only vampire in the city.

"Don't!" He said out loud, like the light was going to listen him.

And the light receded away from him.

Apparently, it did listen.

Nathanael struggled to his feet. He didn't know where Chloe or Queen Bee were, but they could be in trouble. He had to find them, to help them.

'Deep breaths,' his kwami said. 'Deep breaths through the nose.'

Nathanael obeyed, and realized something.

He could smell Queen Bee. Her hair, her skin. Honey and something else, a smell underneath, one he could almost recognize. He had no idea where Chloe was, but at least he could find Queen Bee.

He had barely started down the hall, toward the smell when it happened.

His head filled with the sound of screams, dozens of horrifying memories and overwhelming emotions, making it so he couldn't think, couldn't even really breathe. He stopped walking at the sudden onslaught, struggling to remember where he was and what was going on.

But then, above all the other voices, he heard one in particular. One he recognized instantly, screaming as the other voices overwhelmed her, the screaming growing fainter by the second.

It was Queen Bee, and she was losing the fight. Losing herself.

So Nathanael dug in his heels, stood against the tide of pain and screams, spoke out louder, or at least clearer, than any of them. He spoke out, to remind her who she was. 'Queen Bee.'

'Nathanael?' Her voice was weak, and though she emerged for a moment from the chaos to say his name, she started to slip away again almost immediately.

He wasn't going to let her go. 'Queen Bee!' He reached for her, through the swarm of voices. 'It's okay. I'm here.' He found her mind, her voice and memories, underneath the flood of all the minds she was reading. He had no idea what her plan was, but he was going to make sure she could go through with it. 'I've got you.' He could feel the terror and loneliness radiating off of her. 'You're not alone. I've got you.'

He felt the determination in her. She was going to save the city. She was going to get rid of all the trauma Papillion had caused. And to do that, she had to erase all the memories of him.

And she was going to do it if it killed her.

Nathanael's jaw clenched. He was not going to let it kill her.

So even though the same memories that were dragging on her were in his head too, Nathanael didn't let them pull him down. He stood firm, matching Queen Bee's determination with his own, holding on to her even when the voices got so bad it felt like he was breaking.

And Queen Bee erased the memories. They waded through more, and she erased those too. Until finally, the only traumatic memories, the only painful emotions were theirs. The others had gone silent, relieved from their burden.

Nathanael could feel Queen Bee fading. He knew from her memories that she'd never used so much power at once, and the amount of power she'd used before had been enough to knock her out. He had no idea what this was going to do to her. He doubted she did, either.

'Nath, I...' Queen Bee started to say. But then her voice was gone, leaving only blackness.

Nathanael opened his eyes. He hadn't even realized he'd closed them. He headed down the hallway he'd started down, running to Queen Bee.

He found himself under the hole Papillion had gone through to avoid the spear Queen Bee had thrown at him.

She must have followed Papillion through the hole. Of course she had.

Nathanael jumped straight up into the hole, grabbing the side and hoisting himself up. He was suddenly very glad that he hadn't lost his vampire strength, though he supposed some of his new strength was from his kwami. Even untransformed, weres were stronger than normal civilians. That was something else Nathanael had learned from reading Queen Bee's mind.

He took off down the hallway, following her scent around a corner and into a room with broken down doors. Dozens of people were on the ground, seeming to be in shock.

'Cured vampires,' the kwami said. 'Chat Noir and Ladybug must have healed them. 'Explains why Queen Bee wanted to erase the memories. No point in healing them just to have them sitting around traumatized.’

Nathanael nodded understandingly before he remembered that the kwami was in his head.

He couldn't see Queen Bee, but he could see Rena Rouge and Carapace. Rena Rouge was wobbling, unsteady on her own feet. Carapace was just stepping back from the giant shell beside him, his eyes wide. Neither of them noticed Nathanael.

Rena Rouge looked at Carapace tiredly, swaying a little more. "Did you just see all three of them untransformed?"

Carapace didn't take his eyes off the shell. He nodded quickly. "Yeah, it's going to take me like a month to process that." He sounded like he might be in shock.

Nathanael squinted at them. What were they talking about?

Rena Rouge laughed. She sounded a bit loopy. "Oh, Ladybug is going to hate that. And Chat."

Carapace frowned at her. "I think I'm going to have to put you in the shell too."

"What? I don't need to get in the shell. I'm fine," Rena Rouge said.

Carapace shook his head. Then he held up three fingers. "Three. Two. One."

Rena Rouge collapsed, orange light bleeding off of her.

She was changing back.

Carapace caught her before she could hit the ground or reveal her identity and stepped back the shell. Part of it opened, though the only thing Nathanael could see inside of it was a pair of bare feet. Carapace put Rena Rouge inside of it before anyone could see her identity and stepped back from the shell, the hole in it closing again.

"Okay," Carapace said, apparently talking to himself now. "I've got them all in the shell. Now what?"

He stared at the shell for a moment. He held his hands out toward it with a look of intense concentration. "Float!"

The shell did not float.

Carapace pouted at it. Then he tried to push it. It did not move, didn't budge an inch.

Things started clicking. Three people in the shell. Four, with Rena Rouge. Nathanael knew Queen Bee had passed out. The red and green light had come from Ladybug and Chat Noir, so they were probably unconscious by now too. So they must be the other people in the shell. The shell that Carapace could not move.

'We could help him, if you wanted to,' his kwami suggested.

Nathanael remembered what Queen Bee had said earlier, that it was okay if Carapace found out he was a were as long as no one else did.

'Alright,' Nathanael agreed. 'Let's help.'

He ran through the crowd of people. They didn't notice him. They were too busy celebrating Papillion's defeat, finally snapping out of the fog they’d been in.

Apparently, Nathanael had missed a lot while he was unconscious.

He brushed past people until he finally reached Carapace. "Hi," he said.

Carapace jumped and turned to stare at him with wide eyes.

Nathanael moved so that the shell was between him and the other people in the room. "So, I uh... I'm..." He began tentatively.

Carapace's eyes widened even more. "You're the new were," he said, quietly enough that no one but Nathanael would be able to hear him.

Nathanael nodded. "Yeah. And I'm part shadow creature. Anyway, I'm really strong. I can help you move the shell, if you want me to."

Carapace frowned. He took a few steps away from Nathanael, out of his line of sight. Then h e said "can I borrow that please?"

A moment later, he was back, holding a red and black sweatshirt in his hands. He tossed it to Nathanael. "Here. Put this on."

Nathanael tugged the sweatshirt on. The sleeves were too long. He couldn't see his hands.

Carapace reached over and pulled the hood up. "There. Now just keep your head down, and you'll be able to help me without anyone seeing who you are."

Nathanael nodded. He put his hands against the shell, Carapace copying him.

Then they pushed, and the shell slid easily across the floor.

"Holy... You are strong," Carapace said, taking his hands off the shell in surprise.

Nathanael shrugged and kept pushing. 

After a moment, Carapace ran back to the shell and started helping again. People scattered out of their way as they pushed the shell through the room and out into the hall, Nathanael being careful to keep his head down.

"Where are we taking this anyway?" Nathanael asked. "To the hospital?"

Carapace shook his head. "They won't know how to help them at the hospital."

"So we're taking them to Master Fu's then," Nathanael said.

Carapace stared at him. "How do you know about Master Fu?"

"Queen Bee bit me," Nathanael said. He paused, trying to think of how to explain how he'd managed to absorb some of her knowledge and memories.

But apparently he didn't have to, because Carapace nodded understandingly. "The mental link."

Nathanael blinked in surprise. Did this kid just know everything? "Yeah."

They got to the hole. Nathanael pushed the shell so that it was teetering on the edge of it. Then he jumped down, and Carapace pushed it off and Nathanael caught it.

After that, getting the shell out of the building was pretty easy.

They pushed it the rest of the way to Master Fu's mostly in silence. Carapace did still have to give him directions on how to get there. Though Nathanael knew who Master Fu was from Queen Bee's memories, he didn't know where he lived.

Once they got there, they ran into a problem. Namely, the fact that the shell was too big to fit through the door.

"Alright," Carapace said after a moment of them staring blankly at the doorway. "Close your eyes. I'm going to drop the shell and carry them upstairs." He paused. "It's probably going to take me two trips, so just keep your eyes closed until I tell you."

Nathanael nodded and closed his eyes.

He heard Carapace grunt as he picked up two people, heard his footsteps go up the stairs, and a minute later, heard him come back down.

Then he heard Carapace gasp. "Why is this girl so much heavier than she looks?"

Then he heard Carapace go back up the stairs. After another moment, he heard Carapace's voice call down from the top of the stairs. "Alright, you can open your eyes and come up now."

Nathanael opened his eyes and walked up the stairs.

Master Fu's place was different than he had expected him to be. For one thing, the colors were different than they had been in Queen Bee's memories, for some reason.

It took him a minute to realize why. Queen Bee was a were-bee after all. She must see things the way a bee did, at least some of the time.

But more than that, the place had a very homey, comfortable feeling that Queen Bee hadn't seemed to feel about this place. Her idea of what a home was like must be different than his.

Carapace wasn't anywhere he could see, but Master Fu was seated up the table, pouring tea, his expression picked with worry.

"Sit," he said without looking up at Nathanael. "Have some tea."

Nathanael hesitated for a second, then sat obediently across the table. He took the tea he was offered. It tasted strange. Definitely not the flavor he was expecting, not a flavor he was familiar with in tea form, but instantly Nathanael felt a thousand times better.

Something about the taste was familiar, but Nathanael couldn't put his finger on what it was.

Master Fu put the tea aside, obviously not interested in having any of the strange tea himself. "So..." He started to say.

But Nathanael cut him off, the nervousness he'd been bottling up the whole time spilling out of him. "Is Queen Bee going to be okay? Are they all going to be okay?"

Master Fu paused for a moment, his lips pressing together in a thin line. "Carapace is tending to Ladybug and Chat Noir right now, since they are the most damaged physically."

Physically. That word dangled in the air, a strange addition, a clarification that normally would have been unnecessary.

Nathanael swallowed. "You mean that Queen Bee took the most damage mentally."

Master Fu turned his head, gazing toward a door. Nathanael assumed that was where Queen Bee was. "It's difficult to know how she will react." He glanced at Nathanael, his expression thoughtful. "Though I suppose it is less difficult for you, as you did experience it with her."

Nathanael blinked. How had he known that? "I... They were pretty bad memories. I don't know how to deal with them. But... We're not exactly the same person. I don't know how she's going to react."

Master Fu nodded. "I can't say I do, either, but it's hard to worry too much about her. She is a very tough young woman. And physically, I imagine she will be fully healed in three or four days. Rena Rouge will probably recover in just a day or two. And Ladybug and Chat Noir should be back to their old selves within a couple of weeks."

Nathanael nodded. He looked at Master Fu thoughtfully. Master Fu seemed to know everything. "That's good," he said slowly, wondering if he could ask the next question he wanted to ask.

Master Fu studied him. "You are worried about someone else as well, aren't you?"

Nathanael's eyes widened. "Ye... Yeah. I... Don't know if you knew this, but after the possessed people attacked, Chloe wanted to help them fight the shadow creatures." He paused. "Did you know about Chloe? Chloe Bourgeois? That she's a...?" The question died on his lips. He had promised to keep Chloe's secret.

Master Fu smiled slightly, a smile full of infinite knowledge. "Yes," he said, and his tone told Nathanael that he knew exactly what he was talking about. "She came here for help in learning what had happened to her, and to learn how to fight."

"Oh." Nathanael paused for a second. "Do you know if she's alright? I ran into her at Papillion's hideout, but I haven't seen her since. Do you think she's okay."

Master Fu hummed thoughtfully. "She's fine. Though she may be out of school for a couple of days."

"Why?" Nathanael asked, alarmed. "What happened to her?"

Master Fu was silent for a moment. "She hurt her head," he said finally. He didn't elaborate on that statement, and something in his voice told Nathanael that he wasn't going to, no matter how hard Nathanael pushed. 

Nathanael drank the rest of his tea. Master Fu took his cup from him and poured him more. Nathanael took a sip, feeling some of the worry and tension drain out of him.

Master Fu smiled at him. "We have talked about what happened to everyone else. Perhaps now we should talk about what happened to you."

Nathanael went absolutely still. He looked up at Master Fu, breath caught in his throat.

He knew from Queen Bee that it was okay, expected even, for Master Fu to know the weres' identities. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that Nathanael hadn't had even a second to think about what had happened to him, and now that he was thinking about, the whole experience was catching up with him.

He had died today.

Full on, heart stopped, moving into the light died. A shadow creature had just killed him.

Queen Bee had saved him. He'd compared her to an angel, and that seemed especially true now.

Only, now that he had been in Queen Bee's head, he knew she couldn't have saved him. At least, not by herself.

Because he had been saved by being turned into a vampire, and then she had turned him into a were to save him from that.

But Nathanael hadn't been bitten by a shadow creature. The shadow creatures hadn't been biting civilians, probably because Papillion was clearly planning on it being his last attack, so there was no point in creating new shadow creatures.

For a second, he wondered how Queen Bee had managed to turn him into a vampire, but then it clicked.

Chloe had been there.

He remembered talking to Chloe after Queen Bee had told him she was upset, remembered her skin turning purple. She'd clearly been more vampire in that moment than she was normally. She must be able to go vampire enough to get their venom.

She must have bitten him too.

And then of course, he'd ended up with a mental link with Queen Bee, and he'd used to share the painful memories she'd taken upon herself with her.

It was a lot to deal with, a lot to process. He hadn't been thinking about it, and now that he was, he felt like he was about to hyperventilate.

"I... Um... Well... I..." Nathanael said. He stopped and swallowed. "I think I died."

Master Fu nodded. That was clearly not new information to him.

Nathanael swallowed harder. "And I think... I think that Chloe saved me."

Master Fu's eyebrows rose. That apparently was new information.

Nathanael hurried on. "Chloe, and Queen Bee, I mean. Because the shadow creatures didn't bite me. I think... I think Chloe did. To make me one of them. And then Queen Bee turned me into a were."

"Interesting," Master Fu said. "Then you will have some of the shadow creatures traits as well as being a were." He paused. "Would you mind showing me your teeth?"

Nathanael blinked a couple of times, then opened his mouth.

Master Fu raised his eyebrows again. "You don't have fangs," he said calmly.

"What?" Nathanael ran his tongue over his teeth. Sure enough, they definitely weren't fangs. "I could have sworn I had fangs earlier."

"How strange," Master Fu said. He didn't sound particularly confused by it. "And what about your were side? Do you have any ideas what you are? Any voices in your mind?"

"Yeah," Nathanael said. "I mean, I don't know what I am, but there is a voice, loud and low. Something terrifying."

Master Fu nodded. "And what about transforming? Has he told you how to transform yet?"

Nathanael shook his head. "No. He hasn't said anything."

'And you should be grateful for that,' the voice said. 'With most kwamis, if you can survive the light, you'll be fine to transform. But with me, it's possible to die during the transformation. So I'm not going to tell you how to transform until I'm sure you can handle it.'

'Oh,' Nathanael said. 'I... Thank you.'

He looked at Master Fu, who was looking at him with a vaguely amused expression. "He says he won't tell me how to transform until he's sure it won't kill me."

Master Fu's eyes lit up, but whatever he was thinking, he didn't say it.

Nathanael cleared his throat. "So, um... What do I do now?"

Master Fu tilted his head. "What do you want to do? Do you want to be a hero of Paris? Or would you rather lay low? Stay hidden?"

"I..." Nathanael stopped, thinking about the question Master Fu was asking him.

He was still feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened. He knew he was going to need a lot more time to process it.

But he also knew that he couldn't just stand back, and pretend that he didn't have abilities, that there was nothing he could do about any danger that Paris might face when there was.

He met Master Fu's eyes. "I... I want to be a hero. I'm not sure if I can or not, but... That's what I want. I think."

Master Fu nodded. "Then you can come back here at six tomorrow, and we'll start your training. For now, go home. Get some rest. Clear your head. A lot has happened to you lately. Take some time to think about it."

Nathanael nodded obediently and headed home.

 

Nathanael hated how complicated his life had gotten.

For one thing, he had seen a rabbit this morning, and it had taken all of his willpower not to immediately eat it.

Not drink its blood. Eat it.

And then there were the other weres in the city.

Carapace had gone on patrol the same night that Papillion had fled Paris. He stopped to talk to a camera, to assure the civilians that they were safe and that the heroes would still protect them.

He'd been alone the next night as well, but the night after that, Rena Rouge had joined him.

They'd patrolled the next four nights, but the night after that, it had been Ladybug and Chat Noir on patrol. They had seemed fine, and the four of them had been alternating patrols ever since.

But even now, a full two weeks after Papillion's attack, and Queen Bee still hadn't shown up. The other weres had returned. Nathanael had had time not only to continue to learn how to fight, but to figure out that while he did have a reflection, he did not show up in pictures. Enough time to figure out that he didn’t crave honey the way that Chloe did. Enough time to figure out that he only had fangs when he was angry.

Nathanael leaned his head back, looking up at the classroom ceiling.

He remembered what Master Fu had said when he had asked him about Queen Bee the other day.

"Is she going to be alright?" Nathanael has asked. "Is she awake?"

Master Fu looked away. "She's awake. She's healed. But... She seems to have lost her ability to transform."

Nathanael had tried to get Master Fu to say more, but Master Fu wouldn't tell him anything else.

Nathanael sighed heavily. He hated this. He hated knowing that Queen Bee was hurting and not being able to do anything about it because he couldn't know her civilian identity.

He hadn't heard anything through the mental link in the last two weeks, either. Maybe it didn't work when she was in civilian form.

She wasn't the only person he was worried about, either.

After Ladybug and Chat Noir used their power on the city, the hospitals had been emptied. Everyone who had been by a shadow creature, healed, but also everyone else who was sick or injured for any reason.

The graveyards had lost some of their occupants as well. Anyone who had been killed by a vampire had come back to life, though thanks to Queen Bee, no one but Nathanael and the other weres even remembered if anyone had actually died in the vampire attacks.

And yet, in spite of all Ladybug's healing abilities, Chloe hadn't shown up to school until yesterday.

And then she'd said she'd been absent because of a migraine, a migraine she still apparently had.

It was hard to doubt her. Chloe had spent all day yesterday wearing her sunglasses because the light made it worse. She flinched in pain at any loud sounds. She said almost nothing the entire day, and what she did say was snappish. Not normal Chloe snappish. I'm-in-pain-and-you're-making-it-worse snappish.

He'd asked her about it yesterday, in a soft voice, right after school.

She'd sighed heavily. "Alright, you were right. I should have been more careful. One of the shadow vampires hit me in the head."

And then Nathanael knew that something was going on. Not just because the light that had healed everyone else in the city hadn't healed her. Because she had said he was right.

And Nathanael was more than sure that she had said that to distract him. That she had said that to get him to stop thinking about it, that she was definitely hiding something.

He took his eyes off the ceiling when he heard the door open.

He saw Chloe walk into the room. She was talking to Sabrina, smiling slightly at something she had said.

Nathanael couldn't get over how different she looked.

She had changed her hair. Before, it had been as long as she could keep it after she had evened out the choppiness, just long enough for it to still go up in a ponytail, but now it was even shorter. She'd cut the back super short. The front was a little longer, but either way, her hair would definitely not go into a ponytail now. It was a little curly now too, maybe because it had less weight to it.

But it was more than her hair. More than how quiet she'd gotten. More than the fact that she'd started wearing her sunglasses on her face instead of on her head.

He just couldn't figure out what it was that made her seem so different. Something in her expression, maybe?

Chloe and Sabrina took their seats. Chloe brushed her hair behind her ears, and Nathanael's heart skipped a beat for no discernable reason.

He looked down, flipping his sketchbook open to the picture he'd drawn last night.

It had been late, and he hadn't been thinking clearly.

That much was evident from the drawing itself: Chloe, but with Queen Bee's wings.

He had no idea why he'd drawn that. Possibly because he'd just wanted to confuse himself more.

Because he had just gotten used to the idea that he had a crush on two girls when things got even more confusing. He'd just gotten used to the fact that on top of being in love with Queen Bee, which made perfect sense, he was also in love with Chloe, which made no sense. Two girls who were not what they seemed, two girls who had clung to him like he was the person to turn to for comfort.

He'd gotten used to it because he knew both were impossible. Queen Bee was a superhero who wouldn't tell him her real identity and who couldn't have an attachment to a civilian. And Chloe- well, to get Chioe's interest, he'd have to be a supermodel and a childhood friend, and he was neither.

Then Chloe had kissed him, and Queen Bee had told him she'd kill Papillion if Papillion killed him, and Nathanael realized his life walking even more complicated than being in love with two girls.

Because both girls liked him.

And before he had a chance to adjust to that, he had died, and they had both bitten him. Had both taken part in saving him, and now he owed them both his life.

He had a mental connection to Queen Bee, and maybe that meant his connection to her would always be more profound.

But he wasn't a bee. He was a were, but not a bee. He was however, a vampire. He and Chloe were the only ones in the city, and maybe that meant he would understand her in ways no one else could, and maybe that was even more profound than a mental link.

It was, in a word, confusing, and drawing Chloe with Queen Bee's wings had not helped.

Because it just made him wonder even more what he was going to do about how he felt.

He couldn't just pick between them. It wouldn't be fair. He couldn't tell one of them he liked her back and then just pretend that the other one didn't mean the world to him.

It didn't help that they looked so similar. He'd never be able to be with Queen Bee without thinking of Chloe. And he'd never be able to be with Chloe without thinking of Queen Bee.

"What you got there, Nathanael?"

Nathanael jumped in surprise. Someone was paying attention to him. Why was someone paying attention to him? No one paid attention to him at school, except occasionally, usually Chloe or Rose.

But Kim? Since when did Kim talk to him?

Nathanael slammed his notebook shut before Kim could see inside of it. "Nothing," he said under his breath. He wished the teacher would arrive already.

"Oh, come on," Kim said with his trademark cocky grin. "You're good artist. Just let me see it."

He reached for the sketchbook. Nathanael pulled it away from him. "No, Kim," he said.

Kim leaned forward. "Come on, Nathanael don't be like that."

Ivan turned in his seat to scowl at Kim, but he didn't say anything. Then he flicked his eyes toward Nathanael.

Nathanael hugged the sketchbook to his chest, glancing around the room.

Kim was too loud. He'd drawn the attention of the entire class. They were all looking over at him.

Nathanael shrank down in his seat. He hated this. He hated having everyone looking at him, and he just wanted it to stop. He wanted to crawl under the table, but he didn't think it would help.

His eyes turned, almost unconsciously, to Chloe. She studied his terrified expression for a second, then glanced around the room at the rest of the class.

Kim reached for Nathanael again.

"Seriously, Kim?" Chloe said, louder than she'd spoken yesterday. "Could you be any more annoying? You are making my headache worse."

Kim froze. "Oh, uh... I'm sorry?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Whatever. His art isn't even that great, so quit bothering him already."

Kim nodded uncertainly. "Ri.. Right," he said, skulking back to his seat.

The rest of the class' eyes stayed on Chloe for a moment, and then they went back to whatever they'd be doing before.

Nathanael met Chloe's eyes. Thank you, he mouthed.

Chloe smiled at him, and Nathanael got yet another surprise when he heard something he hadn't been expecting: Chloe's voice.

In his head.

'I lied. You are a great artist,' she said.

Nathanael's breath caught in his throat. Hadn't Queen Bee said that he was only going to be to hear her thoughts? Had she been wrong about that?

He stared at Chloe, at her smile, and something else clicked in his head.

Chloe's smile was warm and sweet as honey, and though her eyes were blue, the expression in them was so soft they might as well have been honey gold.

He knew that smile. He'd seen it before dozens of times, in real life, on the television, in his daydreams.

He'd just never seen on it Chloe before.

Chloe turned back in her seat as the teacher came in. Ms. Bustier started to speak, but Nathanael couldn't focus on what she was saying.

He was too busy beating himself up for not realizing it before.

Chloe was Queen Bee.

And he really should have seen that earlier.

He'd seen right through her. He'd known that Queen Bee wasn't as sweet as she seemed. He'd known that she had an edge, that she wasn't someone to be messed with, something he'd always known about Chloe.

And eventually, he'd realized that Chloe wasn't as black and white as she seemed, either. That she could be brave and sweet and selfless.

Just like Queen Bee.

But he should have realized even before he'd realized that.

He should have realized the first time Queen Bee showed up, when Chloe had disappeared into thin air, and Queen Bee had appeared out of thin air at the same time.

He should have realized when the shadow creatures attacked, when Chloe was there before he fell, but only Queen Bee was in sight when he woke up.

He knew he'd only felt one set of teeth sink into his neck, only one bite. He should have realized what that meant.

He should have realized when he'd woken up wanting meat, when being saved by Queen Bee hadn't given him a love of honey, when his cravings had turned out to be related to- whatever kind of were was.

Meaning that Chloe craved honey because she was a were-bee.

What had she said? That Ladybug and Queen Bee had saved her? She must have meant that Ladybug had bitten her, and becoming Queen Bee had saved her from becoming a vampire.

He should have realized that they were the same, because of of course two beautiful girls hadn't fallen for him. Of course two girls hadn't decided to cry into his shoulders.

Of course it had only been one.

Chloe Bourgeois.

He should have realized when he saw that one of the weres wasn’t wearing shoes, because who else would have been running around in bare feet?

He should have realized when Queen Bee knew which house was his, which room was his. When he’d told Chloe to call him Nath, and Queen Bee started to call him Nath immediately after.

And even if he had missed all of those signs, he should have realized when Chloe had come to school with a headache she clearly wasn’t faking. He’d already known that while the rest of the city had been healed, the weres hadn’t.

And he’d known Chloe was hiding something about her headache. Of course she didn’t still have a headache from a shadow creature hitting her in the head. But erasing so many memories at once? He supposed that would give her a headache for a while.

He was so busy beating himself up for not realizing it sooner, that it had taken him a while to realize something else.

His life wasn't as complicated as he had thought. He didn’t have a crush on two girls.

And he could help Queen Bee.

He could help Chloe Bourgeois.


End file.
